Wheel of Fortune
by jamflam35
Summary: "Darling," Annie stared directly into the camera. Finnick felt his mouth go dry. "I'm in love with you. I always will be... I would have rather not have live at all than lived a life without you." Annie's games, before and after. R&R appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

The Capitol train stopped silently at the District 4 station for the early sunrise. The light from the bright red sun reflected off the water. It was appearing from behind, and created little crystals of light dancing on the surface of the water.

Finnick Odair stepped off the train. For the first time in a while, he held a genuine smile. It had been a long time since he had been greeted by a sight like this, and the smell- oh the smell- of salt water and sea breeze made him feel as if he had never left.

But that wasn't the case. After Finnick's agreement with President Snow five years back about 'working' in the Capitol, in which it wasn't much of an agreement and more of a threat, he had been spending more and more time in the artificial city. About five months at this point to be exact.

The Capitol workers and Peacekeepers began bringing out the screens and stage equipment to put up. There had been a catch to Finnick's arrival- it would be short-lived and for work purposes only, today was reaping day.

Not offering help to the people unloading the train, he walked blindly home.

It was too early for people to know or care about his arrival, which was why no one was there to greet him. Except Mags of course, she was waiting for him in the square with a bright smile.

She didn't say anything as she wrapped her arms around the boy and patted down his golden curls.

"I've missed you, Mags." He held her closely, as if to not let her get away from him.

She cupped his face, "You look just as handsome as when you left." She laughed, "Maybe a bit fatter."

He scowled. "It's that Capitol food, impossible to resist. And it's not as if I can go fishing or swimming, they keep me pent up as if I'll run away."

She nodded her head in understanding. "Well now we get to go back there together so I'll watch what you eat for you."

Finnick laughed. He didn't force it, not around Mags. She knew him for how he truly was, since she had met him five years ago she had seen right through his act. Since he had left the games she had nurtured him back to sanity and she was all the family he had.

They kept a steady pace, she was obviously leading him towards the Victor's Village. "Have things gotten…" He paused, searching for the right word. "Worse?"

Mags looked up at him, her eyes sad. "I'm afraid so." She said quietly. "You've read about what they've said in the Capitol papers, how they're playing off the deaths as 'diseases from the ships' or 'lost at sea'. You know what's really happening."

"Awful," Finnick murmured under his breath.

"District 4 has developed a slum since you've been gone." She admitted. "All the children who lost their parents live there in poverty. It's almost as if it's a separate district."

"And the mayor won't do anything about it? What about the image-"

"They don't show what's happening. The Capitol isn't interested in how the districts are faring, they only put things like that in the Capitol newspaper so there _will be _a newspaper. So why tarnish the image of wealthy District 4 with the progression of its growing ghetto for orphans?" Mags raised her voice, and it got raspy as she did so. She let out a dry cough before going on, "I'm afraid the only thing we can do at this point is wait and see what happens."

Finnick's breath was shaky; things had changed since he had gone. There had always been a yearning for revolution in District 4, but it was a pent up whisper. Over the last two years the thought had turned into a solid idea that was being transferred through the District. The Capitol got word of this and made sure to eliminate it straightaway. For months there had been extra Peacekeepers and surveillance in the District. There were to be no private business meetings and there was a curfew. A few rebels or accused rebels had been executed, to give an example, but word of this never left District 4.

Which was why Finnick was just now hearing of the severity of it all, of course he had read the paper and known the truth, he just didn't know it was to this extent.

Mags took a sharp turn to the left, down a small dirt path that wrapped around to the outside of the Victor's Village.

"Why are we taking the long way?"

"I want to show you something," She said softly.

A little ways down the path were small patch roofed houses and shacks. Some shelters consisted of just a tarp held up by pegs. Children were sleeping on the ground, their faces black from dirt and grime. A few stirred at the sound of footsteps and opened their eyes to see Mags and Finnick. Up ahead there was a girl- probably only eleven years old- asleep in the dirt. Her hair was short, like a boys, and ragged. She or someone else had probably cut it, most likely one of the other children by the looks of it. Small patches could be seen where she had lost some hair, Finnick could not deduce if it was from sickness or stress.

Suddenly a little girl ran into the middle of the dirt path from seemingly nowhere and latched herself onto Mags' leg. She had to have been just three or four. She was wearing a ragged blue dress with little white bows on the shoulders. Half of her hair was brushed and tied in a small pigtail, whereas the other half of her head was a dirty and matted mess. Her face was dirty, and she had been crying. Two clear strips of peach skin starting from her eyes and disappearing beneath her chin were evident on her face.

Her upper lip quivered but before she could call out or wail or whatever it was that small children did when they were upset, someone jogged up from behind Finnick and bent down next to the girl.

"Aria," she whispered, touching the young girl's shoulder lightly, "You have to come back inside."

Mags bent down too to see what the little girl was saying. And spoke softly to the child while the young girl turned the brush she had been using on Aria's hair in her hands anxiously.

The young girl seemed cleaner, maybe she didn't live here. She was wearing a faded floral dress that went down to her knobby knees. She was very thin- maybe malnourished- but it was hard to tell because she was wearing a large white sweater over her frame.

Brown hair flowed down her back in ocean waves; she tucked a strand behind her ear before hoisting Aria up in her arms. The child nuzzled her face into the girl's pale and milky skinned neck. Her shoulders shook like she was crying.

The girl turned and Finnick finally saw her face. She was rather plain, with unflattering bags under her eyes and sunken cheekbones from her malnourishment. She didn't look particularly healthy. But her eyes, which seemed to widen as she realized she was under his critical stare, were the most brilliant shade of green he had seen in all his time of living in District 4.

"Th-thank you," she said quietly to Mags, adverting her eyes to Mags' face.

"It's alright sweetheart, take care of Aria." Mags patted the small quivering body of the three year old lovingly.

The girl gave a final nervous nod before walking quickly back to the direction from which she came.

Finnick's jaw was set, how could his district allow something like this to happen? To just let their citizens be executed and have the children have to fend for themselves. Even ones as small as Aria were alone in this world. Their names would be entered in the Games more than any other wealthy 18 year old in the district by the time they would be 12.

"I know you're angry," Mags said as they approached the gate of the Victor's village in silence. "But there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"That's why I'm angry," he clenched his fists. The Capitol had already ruined his life; they couldn't take his home away too.

"Well you're going to have to get over it momentarily," She murmured caringly, stroking his back as she led him to his doorstep. "The cameras and stylists will be here soon for the reaping, and you'll have to be your usual self."

Finnick did not stop to think about how many of the kids he had just seen in the slum could be in the games. District 4 was supposed to be a Career district, but after Finnick won his games, the enthusiasm to volunteer decreased. District 4, to put it simply, was falling apart. Kids from the wealthier families- the ones who usually did private training at a prestigious academy after school- realized they had as much of a chance as any other tribute in that game. For the tributes this year, it could happen to anyone.

He opened the door to his huge home and listened as the creak resonated throughout the empty house. He wondered if this happened to Mags too, and how she was able to handle living such a lonely life alone in the Victor's village without him.

He padded over to the back window that overlooked the ocean, home felt as if it were an illusion. But it was alright, Finnick Odair hardly had a heart anymore.

* * *

><p>"Don't cry Aria, I'm sure your brother will be fine." Annie soothed, brushing out the little girls thick blonde hair. "He didn't apply for any tesserae and he's only fourteen."<p>

"But brother…" She sniffed, looking over at the sleeping figure of the boy wrapped in a blanket.

Annie tied her pigtail with a small blue ribbon to match her dress. "There we go, all done." Aria turned and Annie made the final touches, flattening the creases and wrinkles of the dress and tightening the bows. "You look perfect." She smiled.

"What about you?" The little girl asked in a small voice. "I don't want you to leave too!"

Annie smiled sadly and stood up. "It's time to wake your lazy brother up."

The four year olds face lit up as she scurried over to where her brother was curled up and jumped onto him enthusiastically, jolting him awake. He sat up with a start, and when he saw his sister grinning and laughing he couldn't help but smile too. "You look awfully dressed up today."

"It's reaping day, did you forget?" Annie asked, moving to the far end of the room where she began to start a fire.

"Of course not," the boy's face blushed profusely when he noticed Annie in the room.

Annie raised an eyebrow quizzically, and finally dropped it when he sighed in defeat. "I thought so. I brought you clothes that I borrowed from Ethan, you know him, right? His father is a longliner."

"I know him," he replied gruffly.

"Here," Annie tossed him the cotton white button down shirt and khakis she had folded neatly. "Put these on when I leave; comb through your hair once or twice and you should be fine. I started the fire for you and all you have to do is cook the fish." She nodded towards the small fillet of sea bass she had caught and wrapped up earlier this morning. "I also brought you guys a special treat since its reaping day." She winked.

Aria grew excited. "Ooh, what?" The child seemed to bounce on the tips of her toes when she spoke.

"Bread."

The siblings both smiled and looked at each other happily.

"I have to go, it starts in an hour and I still need to check on Stef and Dalis." Annie said, picking up her bag that held items for the other two children. "I'll see you two at the reaping, make sure you return those clothes to Ethan after today."

The boy was silent, thinking, and then: "What if I get chosen?"

"You won't." Annie said simply, not missing a beat. "Now _hurry_." She ordered the two kids as she left their small shelter.

She squinted her eyes; she had to walk in the direction of the sun. She checked on the other two- Stef and Dalis- and dropped off food and clothes for them. Annie really was in no rush to make it back to her own home. That would mean she would have to start getting ready herself.

It was a strange and foreign thing- getting ready for the reaping. There was no real way to get ready for it, between mentally preparing yourself to watch a face you had grown so accustomed to seeing on a daily basis be torn out of your life and physically bringing yourself to walk over to the square and get marked for attendance the hours before the reaping were a total blur.

Annie dragged herself into her small home in the wealthier part of the district. The only reason she could afford it was… well she couldn't. Truthfully, Annie had been staying with an elder woman named Adelma. She was perfectly content of taking care of the cranky woman in return for lodging. And Adelma knew the things Annie did, how many people she was taking care of, how looked down upon and illegal it was, and didn't say a word. Neither said much to each other, even though Adelma admired Annie's company and Annie cared about Adelma a lot.

When she got to the door she took her pink ballet flats off and tiptoed into the kitchen to start a kettle of tea for Adelma. When the kettle was set, she slipped into the tiny room she was given across the hall.

It didn't have a door, but a door would be a large luxury. It wasn't necessary for Annie though, privacy meant nothing these days. With the Capitol watching District 4 so closely, especially over the last couple of years, everything was public. Peacekeepers could search houses without consent, arrest people who they deemed suspicious; the Capitol gave them so much power.

Annie pulled the sweater off of herself and folded it neatly. She put it down next to her other piles of folded clothes that she kept in the corner of the room. Adelma wanted to move a proper armoire or closet so Annie could store her clothes but Annie insisted against it. It would be too much trouble and money to buy, plus the two of them couldn't move it into the house. Annie wasn't strong enough and Adelma was too old to do something as strenuous as heavy lifting.

She brushed the knots out of her hair and tied it into a tame side ponytail. Picking out something to wear would be easy, every year she wore the same dress to the reaping. It was the same dress her own mother had worn to her reapings. It was a bit loose on her, since when her parents were around Annie was fed a bit more. But she still felt beautiful in the dress. It was a navy dress with short sleeves that stopped a couple of inches above her knees. Annie paired it with a thin white cardigan because, even though it was eighty two degrees outside according to the thermometer on Adelma's porch, the sea breeze was always particularly chilly.

The kettle went off in the kitchen and Annie picked up the black flats she was going to wear and brought them with her. She fixed up a cup of herbal tea for Adelma; the apothecary had made a mixture of herbs Annie had understood would help with Adelma's sore throat. After her own research, Annie pulled some money together and purchased the mixture, which she now kept in the cupboard for the old woman. After adding some sugar and milk to the bitter tea she walked to Adelma's room.

She rapped on the door softly, reluctant to wake her in case she was having a good sleep. As of late Adelma had been kept up late with her own coughing and Annie feared she was developing a cold.

The sounds of sheets moving told Annie that she was already awake. "Come in," A raspy voice called as loud as it could.

Annie opened the door slowly and smiled at the sight of the gray haired woman sitting up in bed, "Good morning, Adelma. I made you tea."

"Child," she murmured eyeing the cup in Annie's hand. "You shouldn't have done this. It's so early."

"I was awake anyway." Annie mumbled quietly, setting the cup down on the nightstand. "Do you want anything for breakfast? I can make you some eggs and toast if you want, I think there are some in the refrigerator. Make sure that's cold before you take a sip." Annie worried incessantly.

Adelma chuckled before breaking into a fit of coughs, "You worry too much about others, when do you ever think about yourself?"

Annie opened her mouth to object, but Adelma quieted her with a hand. She beckoned Annie to sit on the bed next to her.

"We've lived together for two years now and I've never brought up the things you do because they're highly illegal and even mentioning it could get you, and me, and all of those children killed, but I want you to know I think you are so brave." Adelma caught her breath from speaking. She took Annie's hand in her own wrinkled one and went on, "You're such a beautiful girl." She reached out and touched Annie's rosy cheek. "And so kindhearted too."

"Thank you," Annie murmured. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

"And those sixty something children living in poverty wouldn't be living to see today if it weren't for you." Adelma countered. "And I know you apply for tesserae, even though you think I don't. I'm smarter than you give me credit for." Adelma stared at the wall with a faint smile. "You give the oil and grain to the children, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're-"

"Please don't lie to me, child."

Annie sighed softly, "It's fine." She whispered. "My name is entered twenty six times. I might be picked, but there are others who have it worse. Plus someone might volunteer-"

"District four hasn't had a volunteer for two years, dear." Adelma was rubbing circles into the back of Annie's hand softly. "Even so, I don't want it to be you. You deserve so much better."

It was only then that Annie realized the old woman had small tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Adelma." Annie breathed sadly. She ran into the bathroom and fetched a wet washcloth. "I'll be alright," Annie promised as she dabbed the tears from the woman's cheeks. "I'll be back for supper."

Adelma only cried harder, not making any noise, but the tears were larger and coming faster. Annie laid her back and kissed her forehead lightly.

The woman was asleep in minutes and Annie walked back to the kitchen with the empty teacup. Quickly, she made a small bowl of scrambled eggs for when Adelma woke up again. She found herself wiping away tears as she wrapped aluminum foil over the ceramic bowl to keep the eggs warm. She washed the teacup and set it aside to dry before slipping her shoes on and exiting through the front door again.

Children were walking out of their houses, clutching their parents' hands so tightly in their own their knuckles were white. Annie couldn't imagine the thoughts of the parents. Living in fear that your child could be chosen to be murdered on public television, and Adelma thought _Annie_ worried a lot.

She caught sight of Aria holding onto her brother's hand tightly, they were walking quickly and talking animatedly. Surely their lightness and tranquility was highly coveted at this time.

Annie had to admit to herself that she was scared. Not only for herself, but what would the children do without her? If she were to be picked, they wouldn't be able to survive. Surely some of the older kids like Aria's brother and Dalis could take care of the others, but to what extent?

Annie looked up and realized her feet had subconsciously walked to the square. On the stage on either sides of the microphone were the two glass jars with crisp white pieces of paper. Her name was in there 26 times, more than any other girl in the district surely.

Today would decide her and 68 other children's fate.


	2. Chapter 2

"How has District 4 been treating you, Mr. Odair?" Caesar Flickerman's enthusiastic voice boomed from a loudspeaker set up next to the camera.

"It's been so good." Finnick flashed a big smile. "But I miss everyone and the Capitol _so_ much."

At that comment, he could've sworn the loudspeaker wasn't necessary to hear the roar of the crowd of Capitol citizens. "Oh, Finnick." Caesar laughed. "We miss you too, but you'll be back soon. Mentoring another year. What will this be for you then? Year five?!"

Finnick grinned and nodded. "That's right, I'm nineteen."

"Oh you've grown up so fast," Caesar said in an over exaggerated nostalgic voice. "Well then, it's time to see what's going on in District five. We'll talk to you soon, Finnick!"

"Only, one more day." Finnick winked at the camera. "I'll be counting down the minutes." Which earned another round of screams from the crowd.

The camera turned off and the screams were cut off. Finnick crossed the courtyard of the Victor's village to fetch Mags so they could walk to the reaping together.

They were silent for the walk, merely enjoying each other's company. When they arrived at the stage that had been set up only hours ago, only a small handful of people were in the crowd. Children were already organized in their separate roped off areas, oldest to youngest. Finnick scanned the sparse crowd for any of the kids he had seen in the slum but didn't recognize any faces.

He and Mags were escorted into the Justice building just behind the stage by Peacekeepers. They were led into a room with no windows and big velvet couches, on the television they were broadcasting the beginning of District 3's reaping.

They were served drinks by avoxes but neither of them drank a drop of anything. Finnick felt the familiar nauseous feeling he got when the games rolled around. The problem with the reaping is that it never changed, nothing was different. So every year he was forced to replay the image of himself getting chosen, the feeling in the pit of his stomach as he made his way up the stage and was presented to his District.

"Fee-nick!" A shrill Capitol accent called out for him.

He and Mags turned around to see District 4's escort, Cintia, making her way over to them as fast as she could in her teetering heels.

"I knew it was you!" She grinned excitedly and walked around the couch to face him. "I could spot those golden curls from anywhere."

"Hello, Cintia." Mags smiled genuinely.

"Mags." Cintia nodded curtly. It was meant to be polite, but with the tone of voice she implied, ignoring Mags would've been nicer. She directed her attention back to Finnick, who had stood to give her a hug.

"It's been a while," He smiled brightly. The only problem with being around Capitol people was that it was necessary to act flirty and happy around all of them. At all times.

Cintia blushed a deep shade of red that clashed horribly with the rest of her blue outfit. "It's been a year." She smiled breathlessly, trying to act natural in his presence.

It was more often than not that Finnick took people's breaths away, especially in the Capitol, where they were susceptible to all sorts of bullshit. "How have you been?"

Forty five minutes later, Mags had fallen asleep twenty minutes ago and Cintia was explaining to Finnick why she had decided to go with red hair for this year's reaping instead of blue to match her dress. Finnick was pretending to listen in rapt attention but in reality he was daydreaming. What would the tributes this year be like? What if they were from the slums? Finnick would surely be forced to say bad things about them when they went into the games, he would make a comment about how the quality of tributes had gone down since his year. And Caesar would note that it's hard to follow a year like his. Finnick would smile genuinely and say-

"It's time." A peacekeeper barked at them suddenly once he received orders from an earpiece invisible to the human eye.

Finnick woke Mags up carefully and helped her from her uncomfortable position while Cintia tapped her foot impatiently.

"I hope this year is especially good," she raved, acting as if someone was listening to her. "Maybe this year we'll have the next Finnick Odair." She mused.

Finnick chuckled, "We'll see…"

"I'm just joking!" she laughed heartily. "There's absolutely _no one_ like Finnick Odair!"

The crowd was strangely receiving of the three of them as they were introduced by the mayor. Mags and Finnick stood to the side while Cintia waddled towards the microphone in her sea green heels.

"Happy 70th Hunger Games!" she shouted excitedly to the crowd. This earned a meager applause, which didn't faze her. "I am just _so _excited to meet our tributes for this year. So, let's begin! Starting with the ladies,"

She turned towards the glass jar on her left and walked slowly, balancing carefully on her heels. She caught Finnick's eye and he winked, making her blush again.

She moved the names around a bit before pulling out a slip of white paper- they all looked the same.

She made her way back to the microphone just as slowly as she walked to the glass jar, making the crowd fidget nervously with anticipation. Even Finnick's heartbeat was in his throat and it was impossible for him to be picked again.

Cintia unwrapped the piece of paper carefully. "Annie Cresta."

An echo of relieved sighs mixed with a couple of gasps resonated through the entire audience. Towards the front of the roped off children, girls were parting for a girl with long auburn hair that she had tied into a ponytail. It took Finnick a moment to realize it was the same girl he had seen taking care of Aria in the slums.

Her face was blank, listless. Perhaps it hadn't set in yet, or maybe she didn't even care. Either way, she walked briskly and stiffly up to podium where Cintia took her hand. "Annie Cresta, everyone!"

Instead of the hearty claps and cheers people gave for tributes, a mixture of congratulations and relief, the crowd was completely silent. Their faces all crumpled or shocked. There was something different about this girl, Finnick realized. She meant something to the District.

"Errr…. Alright then." Cintia let go of Annie's hand and walked over to the other glass jar.

Finnick stared at the back of Annie's neck. Her pale skin looked almost like milk, it was smooth like the color of cream. Almost as if she knew he was staring at him, she turned to look at him. Her brilliant green eyes widened when they met his and she quickly whipped her head back around.

Cintia was still recovering from her awkward fumble with the crowd. In all her years as District 4's escort, this had to be the worst. "And for the boys," she said with less pep in her voice. "Maxwell Bevan."

Annie stiffened and a small boy emerged from the twelve year olds group. He had stark white hair and was wearing an oversized button down shirt, probably a hand-me-down from an older brother. A woman let out a strangled cry as she ran forward towards the boy, but Peacekeepers held her back.

"Maxxie! Maxxie, my baby!" she wailed.

The boy turned around to see his mother strangling against two Peacekeepers and stopped to stare, most likely petrified.

Two more Peacekeepers made their way down the aisle and forced him up the podium quickly. The woman's cries cut out as she was dragged out of the square.

Cintia cleared her throat gracelessly, "Do we have any volunteers?"

Again, the crowd was silent.

"Well then," Cintia tried to recover again and was doing a horrible job at doing so. "Please say hello to District 4's tributes for the 70th annual Hunger Games!" She said pseudo cheerily.

Annie's head was down, but she wasn't crying. That much he could tell. Maxwell on the other hand had tears and snot running down his face and he was blubbering incoherently.

The crowd dispersed rapidly and Annie and Maxwell were pushed back into the building. Finnick and Mags followed willingly, not wanting to watch another second of their shattered District.

* * *

><p>Annie sat in an empty room with her hands folded in her lap. <em>At least it wasn't any of the others,<em> she thought relieved.

She kept replaying the escort's voice in her head until her named sounded like an irrelevant noise. She would be in the games. She would die in a short couple of days. Her chances in the arena weren't even slim, they were nonexistent.

And Maxxie, he was only twelve years old. Annie knew him because he came to the slum quite often to play with Thomas, one of the smaller children there. She had made them both lunch on countless occasions.

Maxxie was so kindhearted. He wouldn't be able to kill someone, neither would Annie, but the chance of Maxxie even touching a weapon was out of the question. He was so soft and young and sweet, there wasn't even a drop of youthful malice in him.

A peacekeeper came into the room and Annie looked up from where she sat on the couch. She had a visitor.

The woman walked forward and suddenly she was able to recognize her. It was Maxxie's mother.

She was wringing her hands in the skirt of her dress nervously and didn't look Annie in the eye as she sat down. She was sniffling, probably from crying, and her voice was thick and raspy when she said, "This is very selfish of me to ask,"

Annie sat forward and took her hands in hers, stopping her from wringing them any further. "It's alright; I'll take care of him for you."

The woman finally looked Annie in the eye. Her eyes were bloodshot and a faded blue; fresh tears had sprung up in them. She kept sniffling and rubbing Annie's hands, another nervous tick. "You would do that for me?"

"In the games," Annie nodded. "I think it would be more important that he gets out than I do."

The woman covered her mouth with her hand and sat back, a choked sob escaping her mouth.

"I'll try my best," Annie went on, trying not to look and begin to cry herself. "You need him, obviously. And he has much more back here in four than I do. I don't think anyone would miss me." She admitted sadly. Adelma would, maybe.

"Don't say that, dear." Maxxie's mother leaned forward and cupped Annie's face in her hands. "I know what you do," she said in a low whisper. The peacekeeper in the corner was paying little attention. "Maxxie told me what you do for those kids, this district wouldn't be the same without you, Annie Cresta. Which is why this is so selfish of me to ask of you."

Annie touched the hand on her cheek lightly and felt the calloused hands of a hardworking mother. "It's not selfish," she whispered. "I'll get him home."

The peacekeeper held their hand up to their ear, "It's time for her to go." He nodded to the mother.

Maxxie's mother stood with a choked wail and straightened out her dress. She covered her mouth and Annie could see her shoulders shaking with silent cries.

The wooden door at the front of the room opened up and Annie could see Finnick Odair on the other side looking into the room. His green eyes caught hers immediately and hers widened. She looked down at her hands quickly only to realize they were shaking. Still no tears, though. Annie still hadn't cried.

The door opened again a few minutes later and a familiar young boy stepped in. It was Aria's brother.

"What are you doing here?" Annie hissed through her teeth. "Where's your sister?"

"I left her with Stef, don't worry." He said timidly stepping forward, Annie noticed he was hiding something under his untucked shirt. "Look, they aren't giving me a long time but I needed you to know something."

Annie stood to meet him and he enveloped her in a hug. He quickly slipped the thing under his shirt- Annie identified it as a book- to Annie. He let go of her and was blushing horribly.

Annie suddenly felt the urge to cry, now of all times. There was truly someone who cared for her, enough to risk being caught by the peacekeepers, just so Annie could have her books.

"I left the other ones with Mags," he whispered, his ears still red. "I think you can trust her, she seems really nice."

Annie nodded, "Thank you so much," she reached out to touch his cheek, which grew hot under her touch. She leaned forward and gave him a lasting kiss on the cheek. "Take care of everyone for me, Stef and Dalis know where the good fishing areas are, right? Right behind the Victor's village. The bass stay in the shallower water so you don't need a boat or anything. Don't let anyone sneak onto anymore boats, they could get hurt or in trouble, ok? That goes for you too. And if you ever need anything, go to the nicer fisherman, I'm sure you've figured it all out by now, right? Also-"

"Annie!" he shook her softly. "I know! I can handle it. We can all take care of each other now."

"Okay." She was sucking in small breaths quickly, "Okay."

"You're nervous," he stated. "Everything will be fine, you'll come back to us."

She was shaking her head and breathing hurriedly. "I don't know if I can do this."

"I-" but the Peacekeepers were ushering him to leave. Annie quickly stuffed the book up her dress while their backs were turned. It wasn't obvious with all the extra fabric her dress provided.

She looked up at the last minute, to see his brown eyes meet her green ones, and then the door again. She had forgotten to tell him to give his shirt back to Ethan. He probably forgot, and he would not remember. Ethan would be too nice to ask, or he would think the boy needed it more than he did and would let him keep it.

Annie sat down shakily on the couch again. She put her head in her hands and watched the fabric at the lap of her dress get dotted with her silent tears.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I guess it's finally time for me to introduce myself. I'm the author of this story! I think there's definitely a lack of Finnick/Annie on this site and also irl, so you know what, if no one else is gonna write the story, I will! Please leave me reviews and critiques because god knows I need it. This is my first fic, so be gentle with my newbie heart.**

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><p>Finnick couldn't help but be curious as to why Annie had only gotten two visitors. Both of which were obviously not her family. If she was as valuable as the district had let on at the reaping, wouldn't she have had more than two?<p>

He heard the familiar sound of the train car door whoosh and looked up to see Cintia walking towards him in a new outfit. "Those two are awfully silent," she harrumphed. "I think they think they're better than us." She concluded, sitting down next to Finnick and getting her bracelet caught in the fake flowers on the side table.

Finnick tried not to laugh as she struggled. "Don't say that," he soothed. "I'm sure they're just a bit shocked about all this."

"I don't understand what was happening today," She whipped around suddenly, cutting him off slightly. "District four is usually so much more excited about the games. I felt like I was reaping district twelve!" she admitted.

The projector turned on suddenly and began replaying the rest of the reapings from the other districts.

"Well I guess this is my cue to fetch them," she sighed, getting up again. Finnick worried that she would topple over and bring a vase down with her. "They're with Mags in the other car."

As Cintia disappeared into the rest of the train, Finnick suddenly felt guilty that he had not introduced himself yet. It was unfair that they had to be in the games to begin with, the fact that he was acting uncharacteristically shy and not helping them out was even more unfair to them.

Cintia appeared again in minutes grinning proudly as Mags and the two tributes walked behind her timidly. Finnick could've been wrong but he was pretty sure the boy was clutching Annie's hand.

Finnick smiled brightly and got up from where he was sitting. "Maxxie, Annie," Cintia moved to stand next to him and waved her arm ushering to him. "This is Finnick, he'll help Mags mentor the two of you."

"Hello," he purred.

Neither of them looked particularly interested, Maxxie was shaking and staring as if Finnick would kill him. And Annie stared at him before turning to comfort Maxxie. She knelt down and whispered something to him, ruffling his white hair and smiling. Maxxie smiled back and nodded, his posture relaxing with her words.

"It's nice to meet you," he turned to look at Finnick dead on. He held out a small hand boldly and Finnick laughed as he knelt down to shake it. Annie was beaming at Maxxie and when he turned to look at her she wiggled her eyebrows which made him grin widely.

"Yes well," Cintia shifted awkwardly. "Now that we all know each other, shall we watch the other reapings?"

Finnick watched as their faces fell quickly; the other tributes were probably the last thing on their minds

"Why don't we eat first?" he offered. Mags nodded with a smile. "I know I'm hungry, I haven't eaten since I got off the train this morning."

"Oh, dear!" Cintia scurried nervously. "You haven't eaten in hours! I'm sure the reapings can wait, they're recorded anyway." She insisted. "I'll go alert the cooks that we're ready, stay put in the meantime."

She bustled off, moving as fast as she could in her high heels. The train car door opened and closed as she left.

"That's a relief," Maxxie admitted. "She was bothering me."

"Maxxie!" Annie scolded in a harsh whisper. She looked at Mags and Finnick quickly to see if they were angry, but their expressions were understanding.

"It's alright," Mags chuckled, taking a seat in an armchair. Finnick remained standing, leaning against the back of the couch. "She is a bit irritable at first."

"You get used to it," Finnick explained. "Or at least you'll have to, they're all like that."

"People from the Capitol?" Maxxie's eyes were wide.

"Yup," Finnick nodded. "And she doesn't even have the weirdest outfits."

Maxxie's eyes grew wide at the perplexing thought of an outfit weirder than the blue wrap dress Cintia had worn to the reaping.

Annie was looking over at Mags, her expression looked conflicted.

Finnick continued to chat with Maxxie, who was very enthusiastic and interested in the alien world of the Capitol. Mags occasionally added comments here or there, negating Finnick's joking mention that they shave the heads of people in debt in the Districts to create fake hair that they could use or jumping into his rescue whenever he became dangerously close to slipping up. He hadn't done so yet, which was a good sign.

Cintia came in moments later, announcing that dinner was being served in the dining cart.

They all moved relatively quickly and were seated at once. Finnick and Cintia were at the head of the table and Mags sat alone on one end while Maxxie and Annie sat next to each other.

The food was steaming and Finnick could've sworn his stomach was audible. Annie was helping Maxxie with his napkin and Cintia was already loading her plate with food. Mags waited for the kids to feed themselves.

First, Annie took Maxxie's plate and served him. Making sure he got vegetables even when he protested them. Then she took her own plate and put a very small amount of food for herself, which she was hardly touching.

"I think we should all get to know each other," Cintia announced. "We're all going to be spending quite some time together for the next couple of weeks, so why don't you tell us about yourselves?"

Maxxie needed no further hint as he dove straight into his interest in deep sea fishing. He told the table of the time that his father had brought him along on a three day trip to the deep waters and all of their catches.

Annie took systematic sips from her water glass and fumbled with the napkin in her lap.

"And you dear?" Cintia asked her finally when Maxxie took a breath.

"I…" she trailed off, looking at Mags as if it would help her. "What do you want to know?"

"Just the basics," Cintia explained, cutting a large piece of meat and popping it into her mouth.

"Well," she began, "I'm seventeen."

Cintia's eyes bulged. "Seventeen?! I could've sworn you were fifteen! You look so young!"

Annie grimaced and looked down at her lap.

"Annie is the oldest out of all my friends," Maxxie said proudly. "She lets me and Thomas play with whoever we want. My mom won't let me play with him a lot though," he said sadly. "She says it's too dirty and I could get sick, but that's where all my friends are!"

Annie was stiff in her seat, staring down at her napkin with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," Cintia dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "What's he talking about?"

Maxxie opened his mouth to answer but Mags cut him off quickly, "The docks in District 4," she explained. "The children like to hang around there because of all the commotion."

Annie's eyes flashed with relief and she sent Mags a silent thank you. Maxxie looked confused but he didn't object to Mags' story.

"Oh I see," Cintia pretended to understand. "Well maybe you all want to discuss training then, I'll just excuse myself before dessert is served."

"There's dessert?" Maxxie chirped happily, turning to Annie.

"I don't think they serve it to boys who haven't eaten their vegetables, though." Annie sighed, pointing to his untouched green beans and asparagus. She looked up to Mags and Finnick for confirmation.

They both nodded quickly, "It's a very unjust system in my opinion, but I don't make the rules." Finnick shrugged.

"Hey, Finnick didn't eat his!" Maxxie pointed out.

Finnick looked down at his two stalks of cooked asparagus and shuddered. When it was cooked it was all mushy, but if he had to take one for the team-

"Finnick isn't a boy anymore, he's big, and you're still little." Annie explained. "He's an adult so he can do what he wants."

"That's not fair!" Maxxie pouted, scooping green beans into his mouth.

"Finnick was your age once too; he had to eat his vegetables to get dessert." Annie finally took a mouthful of peas from her plate and chewed them thoroughly. "See? They're not bad."

Finnick was in a daze, Annie was aware of everything. He didn't know if she had even looked at Maxxie once the entire meal and yet she had kept tabs on what he was doing. She knew that he and Mags would back her up. The reason she was silent was because she was observing.

"Do you want to discuss training then?" Mags asked.

Finnick shot her a startled look; he didn't want to frighten them off, right when they had gotten comfortable.

"It's inevitable." She sighed.

"What does 'inevitable' mean?" Maxxie asked, the top of his asparagus threatening to jump from the corner of his mouth as he chewed.

"It means it can't be avoided, like it's going to have to happen eventually." Annie explained quickly, wiping his mouth with her own napkin.

He struggled under her grasp and tried to nudge her away but she was insistent and wiped his face.

"So, would you two like to train together?" Mags asked, ushering the conversation along.

They looked at each other without a hint of malice or potential hatred.

"I don't see why not," Annie said, sitting on her hands.

"Alright, then that's settled." Mags turned to Finnick and steered him towards explaining how things were going to go from now on.

This mentoring thing was becoming a routine for the two of them, so much so that they had developed a process to it all. They had divided things up between the two of them and chose not to talk about the custom outside of the season. No one liked to talk about the games outside of the season; besides the Capitol of course, they counted down the days.

"What would you say you're good at?" he asked them.

They both seemed to contemplate it for a moment, which was a good sign- that they were putting thought into it.

"I'm good at spelling… at school…" Maxxie offered.

Finnick didn't want to get impatient; this usually happened with the younger ones, they didn't have anything valuable to put on the table, which weeded them out from the final tributes easily.

"They mean something that will help you in the games, Maxxie." Annie whispered gently.

Before he could answer and before Finnick could find out what Annie's strengths were, Cintia came back in, the dessert tray following suit.

"I hope you didn't miss me too much!" She giggled, her heel falling from under her as she stumbled forward slightly. Finnick saw Annie cover Maxxie's mouth from laughing loudly out of the corner of his eye and he smiled.

They cleared the plates; Annie had somehow tricked him into eating every single piece of green on his plate without actually eating much herself. When they served the dessert- chocolate cake- Maxxie cut himself a large piece which Annie then halved.

"You'll get a stomach ache." She explained.

"No I won't!" Maxxie countered.

"Fine." She let go of the knife and let him serve himself. "When you feel sick, you're not allowed to say a word, okay?"

"Okay!" He eagerly pushed the slice she had taken from him onto his plate.

"Aren't you going to have any?" Mags asked her.

Annie seemed to space out for a second before answering, "Err… that's alright, thank you though."

Finnick furrowed his eyebrows. She was certainly off, she didn't eat, and she didn't speak much at all. He'd talk to Mags about it when they went to bed.

"So, your strengths…" Finnick coaxed.

"Oh," Annie lifted her head from the table. "I… know how to start a fire, and catch fish, and swim… and so does Maxxie I'm sure."

"I don't know how to start a fire," he said loudly, chocolate dribbling from his lip again.

Annie didn't move to wash his face again, probably seeing that it was a waste of her time at this point.

"I think we figured you'd have those skills," Finnick admitted with a chuckle. "What about fighting?"

"I wrestle with Thomas sometimes!" Maxxie offered.

"I think it will be a bit different than that, dear." Mags said sadly.

"I can't kill anyone," Annie muttered.

Everyone was silent. Cintia decided to take control, "Sweetheart, that's the complete opposite of what the games are about. You have to kill people, that's the fun of it!"

Finnick tried not to gape. "I just don't think I have the right to take away someone's life." Annie said simply. "I don't think anyone has the right to take anyone's life in cold blood."

Cintia laughed airily. "I don't think you understand." Her tone was supercilious and patronizing.

"I understand." Annie's chair scooted back with a screech. "I'm sorry to cut this short but I've had a long and tiring day, I'm sure you all have too. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

Maxxie pushed his clean plate away from him and groaned.

Annie looked down at him. "Tummy hurt yet?"

He nodded, moaning and clutching his stomach.

Annie bent down and picked up the little boy in her arms. "I told you this would happen." He grasped the back of her dress to hold on.

"You know where your rooms are, two cars down." Cintia's voice seemed to have lowered an octave.

Annie walked away from the table without another word, leaving the three of them alone.

"Well," Cintia huffed as she cut herself another slice of cake. "The audacity of these children is borderline outrageous."

"I'm sure it's just the nerves," Mags soothed.

But Finnick wasn't so sure. There was definitely something different about her, and he was going to find out before she could be thrown in.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review before you go! I will try to update as much as possible in the future. Thanks!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This chapter is super long because I've already written a lot of this story, and I'm just trying to get to the good bits (this is all my writing from a couple months ago, and since then ive gotten _WAY_ better at writing). **

**Anyway, I just want to reiterate that this is just my variation of what I think went down about something that they never really discussed in the books (or movies for that matter). So most of what I write into the story might not be totally accurate or in line with what Suzanne Collins said.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Annie took the book out from under her dress and looked at it. Somehow Aria's brother had managed to take all of her books from the hiding place she kept them in and bring them to her. He knew that Annie loved reading more than anything, and the books meant everything to her.<p>

Annie traced her thin fingers over the worn out cover of the Encyclopedia, it was a 1978 Britannica. This truly meant nothing to Annie since she didn't know what it meant, but she knew it held many things from the past the Capitol had been keeping from the districts.

She had read the book more times than she could remember, it harbored information on things she would never need to know and yet she felt so cheated of not being offered the information before. Things like zebras and democracy and spaghetti, enigmatic nouns she had little familiarity with and yet she knew more about them than the average citizen. All because of this book.

Medicine intrigued Annie the most of what she had read. A lot of her books were about medicine. This helped her take care of others a lot. From a scrape on the knee to pneumonia, Annie was the person the children went to. It was too bad it wasn't 4's responsibility to help with medicine, Annie would have loved to have been a doctor.

She sighed and rose from the bed. She wanted to retrieve her other books from Mags.

The entire meal had been conflicted stares alternating between the woman's wrinkled old face to the hands in her lap that were kneading themselves. It was too risky. Had Mags already given the books to the Peacekeepers? Ratted her out? Ratted out Aria's brother? Would he be executed? Aria wouldn't last an hour without her brother.

Annie drew a shaky breath as she let her hair out of its loose ponytail. It fell down her back in flawless waves, and she combed through it quickly with her fingers. Although it was late, Annie wanted to look presentable.

She looked over at the digital clock projected over her nightstand. 11:30 sharp was printed in glowing green mechanical numbers. She slipped out of her room and into the hallway.

Hopefully Mags would still be outside, maybe watching the reapings like Annie and Maxxie should have been.

After Annie helped Maxxie get ready for bed, she tucked him in and waited until he drifted off to sleep. Even in the corridor of the train she could hear his muffled whimpers for his mother.

She selfishly walked in the other direction; she could tell by his voice that he was sleep talking. Every young child in the slum called out for their parents in their sleep. None would ever receive what they were asking for, though.

The door opened and Annie entered the small gap between the two cars. In the other car, she could see Mags and Finnick sitting on the couch talking, Mags facing towards the door.

Before she could regret her decision and turn around, she caught Mags' eye and was beckoned to enter.

When she walked through the door of the car, Finnick Odair's eyes were on her. She blushed profusely and looked down at her worn out shoes.

Finnick Odair was the pride and joy of District 4. Of course, what else did they have at this point besides good fishing? He was tall and handsome and charming and nineteen. Barely legal, but legal. The Capitol was so engulfed in his intoxicating aura that he stayed in The Capitol for the majority of the year, Annie had hardly seen him before their run in this morning.

The reaping had only been this morning. It had already felt as if it had been years. Annie tried not to contort her face as if she had tasted something sour.

"I- uh… came to apologize." The words left her mouth before she had a chance to revise them.

"Oh no, that's alright, dear." Mags said in a gentle tone.

Annie looked up and the old woman was smiling genuinely. Relief flooded through her, somehow Mags' kind disposition made Annie feel more comfortable.

"Really I shouldn't have… I was being impulsive and bratty and-"

"You were being honest." A husky voice cut Annie short.

Finnick Odair was staring at her with a serious expression that she had never imagined she'd ever see in her entire life. The prince of The Capitol always had a smile fixed to his face and something light to say.

"We understand what you're going through," Mags seemed to agree with what Finnick had said. "We're on your side in this situation. We only want to get you out."

Annie shifted nervously on her feet. She felt she needed to tell them the promise she made to Maxxie's mother, they would focus their attention to him.

"Also, Annie," Mags cut off her thoughts. "I think these belong to you."

Mags pulled up four books from her lap and held them out to her. Annie gasped and ran over to take them.

Mags was smiling at her, which meant she was alright with Annie breaking the law. Finnick on the other hand, wore a blank face. His full lips were pulled taught into a thin line, like he was trying to keep from saying something.

"Do you know a lot about medicine?" Mags asked.

Annie was rubbing the covers absentmindedly, wondering what her mentors would do next. "Just what I learned from the books." This was true, maybe she was selling herself short, but she wasn't lying.

Mags looked unconvinced. "Surely taking care of all the children in the slum requires you to cure all kinds of sickness."

Annie froze. She opened her mouth to answer but really had nothing to say. Did everyone know about it? The entire district knew at this point. Adelma, Maxxie's mother, now Mags. Annie in reality shouldn't have been surprised, instead of the usual cheers that resonated in the audience at the reaping there was an eerie silence as if they knew Annie's secret.

"Don't try to be humble," Mags smiled, "Especially now that you're going to be interviewed and assessed for your skills."

"I didn't know anyone knew," she spoke slowly, making sure every word was correct. "And I'm not trying to be humble when I honestly say all I know is what the books have taught me."

Mags turned to look at Finnick, who was still staring at Annie blankly. "I told you you should put more faith in her."

Finnick's eyes flickered to Mags' face. "I never said she didn't have a chance," he paused. "I just said that after what she said at dinner, if she wasn't lying about not killing anyone, she would have trouble lasting in the arena."

"I don't intend on winning." Annie interjected. Their eyes flew to her face and she suddenly wished she hadn't said anything. She swallowed, "I don't think I'm going to win. And be honest, did you really think I was either?" The two mentors were silent. Annie continued, "I want to protect Maxxie. I want him to be the one to get out, not me."

"That won't be possible." Finnick protested. "He's twelve they don't last past the first couple of days."

Annie was flaring, her fists clenched around the spines of the books and she got ready to give Finnick Odair a piece of her mind. "I think it could be done," Mags said quietly.

She redirected her attention to the older mentor, her anger fizzling.

"If by some sort of stroke of luck, you eliminate the other Careers first." Mags went on. "You can look through the reaping if you want, it's on the television. See who you think is a threat, and we'll help you with your plan."

Annie gulped and nodded. She sat down with Mags on the couch, but was scooted to the far corner. Finnick made a growling noise in the back of his throat as he sat back and turned the television on with a remote like object that Annie had seen Cintia adjust the lighting with earlier. Capitol technology was beyond her.

The reapings rolled by. The two tributes from District 1 were a girl named Maryna and a boy named Gleam, both eighteen and both extremely deadly looking behind their handsome and healthy bodies. Next was District 2, the girl was young, probably fifteen, but still looked like she could pin Annie down and skin her alive in seconds without any remorse. Her shoulders were broad and she was smirking proudly as a boy named Titus was called up. He was burly and tall, taller than Finnick probably. He was grinning widely and when he crossed his arms over his chest, large muscles rippled in his biceps. Annie shuddered when she imagined those same arms snapping her neck. District 3 was uneventful, both were plain but able bodied. Annie watched herself get called up and then Maxxie. The ordeal with his mother and his tears were edited out. The silence following Cintia's announcement was replaced with artificial claps and cheers.

Mags and Finnick looked at each other uneasily, District 4's troubles were being masked by the Capitol and they both seemed to just now be getting wind of it. Annie was envious of Finnick's outlier-ish standing in this situation. Since he was in the Capitol, he only had to watch his home fall apart for brief periods of time. Other than when he was in the area for a weekend or two, District 4 was probably in the back of Finnick's mind.

Annie on the other hand was at the heart of the district's downfall. The children in the slum were the children of rebels. All of them. And the Capitol knew this. One step out of line by one of them, and they'd all be blown to bits. This made the Capitol sleep well at night, and it kept Annie up.

District 7's tributes were an older girl like Annie, who looked well-fed and threatening, and a younger boy named Jac. He had scruffy brown hair and bright blue eyes, probably only a year older than Max. His eyes were full to the brim with tears but he didn't let a single one fall. District 8 had two older children who looked uncomfortable to be there. The next District to really catch Annie's attention was 11. Two very small and young kids- they were almost pixie-like- were reaped. The girl's name was Maiz and the boy's was Kemp. They were both trembling as their escort touched their shoulders lightly and smiled, booming the same line Cintia had said at Annie's own reaping. "Please say 'Hello' to your district's two tributes for the 70th annual Hunger Games!"

After District 12's two underfed tributes took their place onstage and Effie Trinket said her final words, the screen cut out to rolling credits. The Capitol symbol blazing in the bottom left corner of the screen.

"I'm going to join the Career pack." Annie started off.

Mags eyebrows jumped, whereas Finnick scoffed. "Good luck getting in."

Annie shot him a glare.

"What?" he grinned at her attempt at a scary face. "Just because four is a Career district doesn't mean they have a spot saved for you. If you keep this strategy going with a no kill streak, they'll kill you just to get you out of the way right then and there. You have to get in somehow by being valuable to the group."

"But she is valuable," Mags said excitedly.

Finnick stared at her with confusion, Annie too, wondering what Mags was going on about.

"Oh look at you two, neither of you have confidence in Annie!" Mags laughed. "She knows _medicine_! Half the tributes in the arena die from the improper treatment of a wound, or some sort of sickness. If they kept her in the group as a medic, she's in!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's possible, but what are the chances of _that_?"

"She can just get to know them through training." Mags explained. "When you're in training, talk to them. Get to know them. Advocate your skill and knowledge."

Annie grimaced. "They're a bit intimidating."

"Its life or death." Finnick muttered grumpily. "So if you're embarrassed and shy now it'll cost you later, just be brave."

"Why are you so grumpy?" Mags asked Finnick solicitously, touching his shoulder. "You're being fowl. Go to bed." She ordered in a motherly tone.

"Fine, I'll be good." He flashed his heart-winning smile and Annie felt her heart flutter just a bit.

"Anyway," Mags turned to Annie again. "Why don't you sleep on it? If you can sleep, the first night is usually the hardest. Think about your decision, weigh out your options. You don't have your first training session until the fourth day, alright? We'll talk it over later."

"Ok." Annie rose from the couch, still clutching the books tightly. She watched as Finnick's green eyes flashed from her face to the books and back to her face. "Thank you for not telling anyone about- about the books."

Mags smiled earnestly. "Its fine, dear. I'm happy to know you received them like that boy wanted you to."

Annie's heart felt heavy at the mention of Aria's brother. She wished so much to be home, tucking them in and putting out their fire, reading them an excerpt from one of her books since neither of them could read.

She muttered goodnight to the two of them and hurried back to her room, where instead of staying up and reading from her books like she had planned, she cried and cried and cried into the soft duvets until she fell asleep in her mother's old blue dress.`

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><p>After Mags chewed Finnick out for being unfriendly, he returned to his train car where he found six messages for him written out in messy scrawl. They read things along the lines of "So-and-So wants to meet up with you on this day" "So-and-So wants you to escort them to a party on this date" "So-and-So wants you to know wants you to know that they miss you". He sighed; these all meant that he was already going to have work when he returned to the Capitol in a couple of hours. It was undesirable, this life of his, no matter how glamorous and beautiful it was, it would always be laced with ugly catches.<p>

When he started to ask his suitors to pay him in secrets, he learned how truly ugly the Capitol was, even on the inside. It wasn't just the politicians ordering the Peacekeepers to do bad in the Districts that were evil, it was that entire city. Scandals like the murders of stylists, extermination of entire families by other families, suicides of figureheads, framed suicides, the list went on. And sometimes death wasn't even the worst thing.

The lives of the citizens of The Capitol were short-lived, greedy, sporadic, and artificial. Just staying in the city for over a week made Finnick start to feel like a fraud.

He fell back onto his bed and recounted the recent events. So the girl read. It perplexed him where on earth she had found those books. If they were about medicine, they were from six. Where could she have gotten books from six? And when? She seemed innocent, and a lot like a do-gooder, escaping and skipping districts seemed as if it were something out of her element. Plus he wasn't even sure books like that were produced any longer. They looked older than President Snow before his recent surgery.

It was none of his business though; she was going to be gone in weeks anyway. And Finnick was still going to have this pesky problem of his regarding The Capitol.

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><p>He woke up in his clothes from the night before, and noticed that the smell of the sea he had been wearing before had quickly turned to the fowl stench of sweat.<p>

Finnick peeled off his clothes and showered quickly. He changed into a plain white shirt and black pants once he was done. His hair dried back to its golden curls within minutes.

Mags was in the living room with Maxxie watching television. Max's snowy white hair was wet like he had just showered too. "Good morning, sunshine." She joked.

Finnick scowled but bent down to kiss her cheek. "Morning, Maxxie."

Maxxie looked away from the television for a split second and grinned widely when he saw Finnick talking to him. "Hey, Finnick! Wanna watch TV with me 'nd Mags?"

"I think Finnick has to talk to someone first," Mags said softly. When Finnick looked at her with a perked eyebrow she quickly whispered, "Annie's in the second car over, go apologize for last night."

"Apologize for what?" he whispered perplexedly.

"For being rude!" Mags patted his cheek with her wrinkled hand. "Those looks don't get away with everything, you know."

Finnick laughed and smirked, "Not here at least."

"Go." Mags tried to act mad but she was smiling too much.

Finnick ducked out of the car after saying goodbye to Maxxie and went straight to where Mags told him Annie was.

She was sitting in an armchair that faced the door immersed in a book. When the doors slid open she shut it and tucked it under her lap quickly before anyone could see.

"It's just me," Finnick chuckled.

Her eyes were wide and Finnick was surprised again by how green they were. "Oh," was all she said before she took the book out from under her and opened it up again.

He walked over to where she was and pulled a chair over so it faced hers. She eyed him warily from the tops of the pages.

Finnick sat down with a sigh and smiled when he caught her eye. "I wanted to apologize for last night."

"What was last night?" Annie asked absentmindedly, turning the next page and reading the next sentence.

"When I basically told you that you had no chance of survival." He explained, kicking himself for wording it so negatively.

"I see," her eyes danced over the page before looking at the other page. "Well it's your job to tell me what I should do in the games and you were only being honest."

Finnick sighed, but made himself smile again. "Yeah, but I didn't have to be so mean to you. I'm usually not so mean to girls."

She finally looked up from her book to stare at him through thick eyelashes. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" he asked.

"Never mind." she huffed.

"You sound like you're talking to a child." Finnick's voice sounded angry, but he was just confused. And so his brain immediately decided to act completely childish.

She laughed and looked down at her book. "I guess it's just force of habit."

"How do you do it?" he blurted suddenly.

"Do what?" Finally she put the book down and was paying attention.

"Put… others before yourself," Finnick was letting the words go before they had properly formed in his brain. He didn't even know he was curious about her supernatural power before he had asked her about it.

She blinked and knotted her eyebrows. "I'm perfectly selfish," She countered. "I imposed on someone and have stayed with them for four years, I let people risk their lives just so I can reread books I've read more than I can count," she held up the book in her lap, her fingers jammed between the pages so she wouldn't lose her place. "And one time I used the public bathroom in the Justice Building and used the handicap stall even though I'm not paraplegic and all of my limbs are working perfectly."

Finnick laughed and she hid her smile badly. "You know what I'm talking about. I'll give you an example in case you try to be modest again. First of all, you're willing to give your life in the games so Max will make it out. Second, you took care of him last night like he was your brother or son or _responsibility_ to put in short, when you didn't need to. Third-"

"Ok I get it," She tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear. "I don't know… I just have this natural propensity to take care of others. I always want to help people out and I always worry about others. So it's not like I'm not trying to be selfless, I just worry about others before I worry about myself." She answered simply.

He shook his head. "I feel like such an awful person."

"Why?"

"Because of you." He sat back in the chair and unstiffened his shoulders. She was easy to talk to, once he reminded her not to speak to him as if he were under the age of twelve. "You do things purely for others and I do things purely for myself."

Annie widened her eyes. "Oh I don't think that's true…" She looked down at her hands and then back up at him. "You love Mags. And even though you could be doing other things, talking to other people, flirting with girls, catching up with friends, when you come home to District 4 you stay with _her_. And it makes her week. She walks through where all the kids are a lot, so I see her often. And when you've come for a weekend or written to her, you can tell because she's smiling."

"But you makes such a difference for all those kids-" he started.

"But you make a difference for her," Annie smiled. "And everyone is worth something."

Finnick fidgeted. She was smarter than him. A lot smarter than him. He really didn't know what to say next. "What are you reading?" _Yes, Finnick. Bring up something she has full knowledge of and you have no knowledge of, it will _definitely _make you seem smarter!_ He wanted to kick himself.

"The Great Gatsby." Annie answered. "It's from the 1920s, can you believe that? And the story is one of the best I've ever read, although it makes me a bit sad at the end."

"Why read it again if you've already read it before?" He frowned.

"Because," she smiled down at the book, as if they held some sort of secret between each other. "Every time you read a book again you discover things you had missed the previous time, it's like getting to know an old friend after time apart."

"Read me some of it."

She looked up at Finnick with a confused expression that soon melted away to an expression he couldn't read. "I… Do you really want me to?"

He nodded. "I've haven't ever read anything besides what we were given in school. You know what I'm talking about, right? Those pamphlets about the anatomy of a fish?" Annie giggled at the mention of the silly elementary lesson.

"I guess I could read you some," she flipped through the book.

"What are you doing? Just read from where you are."

"I'm looking for good parts, I don't want you to be disappointed." She explained.

"I don't know what I'm to expect, it could be horrible and I wouldn't know." Finnick protested lightly.

She giggled again. "Should I just start from the beginning? I wasn't too far through it anyway."

Before Finnick could protest, she began. "'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.'" She paused and took a breath. "''Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.''"

And so it began like this, Annie read from the pages as if she were retelling her own story. At first Finnick listened to the story, but after a while it was pleasant just to hear Annie's voice. Even when she tripped over words and stuttered a bit, mispronounced a word and apologized for it- actually, those moments were Finnick's favorite part. Sometimes she would even pause and talk about how much she liked that particular line, and then she'd read it off again and explain what it meant. Even if Finnick understood and agreed with her.

She was like a different person when she read. She became each character, Nick's voice was deep, but Mr. Buchanan's was deeper, and Gatsby had a slight accent that Finnick recognized as a Capitol accent. He realized Annie gave him a Capitol accent because she had no idea where New York was but she knew that he was rich, and so he was suddenly from the Capitol. Daisy's voice was high pitched, and Jordan's was low and sensual.

And each time Annie looked up and became herself again, to see Finnick watching her with rapt attention, she'd blush and shrink back down to her book.

It had only seemed like minutes but when the train rolled to a stop, Finnick finally realized it had been three hours. And they were in the Capitol.

"''…always look so cool,' she repeated. She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago. 'You resemble the advertisement of the man,' she went on innocently. 'You know the advertisement of the man-' We're stopped?" Annie stopped reading suddenly and angled the book down; worried that Finnick would peek at the page and spoil it for himself. "Does that mean we've arrived?"

"I think so," He bit his lip uneasily. "But what happens? What does Tom do? What's he going to do to Gatsby?"

Annie smiled bashfully and giggled at how excited he had gotten about it. "I don't know…"

"Come on!" Finnick sounded desperate, but was laughing when she mocked him.

He leaned forward and tried to snatch the book from Annie but she pulled away at the last second, Finnick stumbled slightly, and his neck brushed against her soft cheek. When he pulled away she was blushing profusely.

Before he could apologize though, Cintia came in through the doors in an obvious flurry of excitement. "We're here!" she practically shouted, her hands clasped tightly. "Welcome to the Capitol, Annie! Let's go, the crowd is waiting!" She let out an excited squeal before returning back from where she came.

"She didn't even notice the book," Annie laughed.

"I think she has other, less fashionable, things on her mind." Finnick explained.

Annie giggled again and stood up. "Oh," her expression turned serious. "We're here."

Finnick's smile faded too when he noticed her sudden nervousness. "It'll be alright, okay?" He reached for the book, which she let go of willingly and folded the page they were on. "Once today is over, we can finish this." He held it up again. "Don't worry about anything."

"My other books, I- I can't walk out with them." She spluttered. "And Maxxie! I have to talk to him, oh god, what's he doing? Probably not faring well-"

"Annie," Finnick held her steady as she swayed nervously and rubbed her temples. "I'll get your books and bring them, alright? They're in your room?"

She nodded breathlessly.

"Go to where Mags and Maxxie are now, I'll meet you later. You'll be alright." He promised, and let go of her shoulders.

She immediately walked quickly to the other train car where the two of them were waiting for her.

Finnick let out a breath, it wasn't often he made friends with people his age. Everything seemed like a _conquest_. Annie was almost… refreshing.

He hurriedly went into the private car that had their rooms. He stopped in his quickly only to find several more messages from Capitol citizens asking to see him.

Annie's room was untouched, her bedding remade messily, probably in an attempt to be helpful. He rolled his eyes, she really was too caring.

He looked for a couple of minutes before finding the books hidden in her closet. Each book wrapped in an individual article of clothing. He almost laughed at how meticulous she had been in keeping them hidden, when the only people that were entering the room were avoxes. And even if the avox found the book and felt like doing something about it, it's not like they could _tell_ anyone.

Finnick stuffed the books into a backpack he had found at the bottom of the closet. He slung it over his back and made his way to the exit of the train.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review if you liked it, if you didn't, whatever you want! Thanks for reading!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

The crowd surrounding the entrance was starting to dissipate before someone shouted, "It's Fee-nick!" In their thick accents.

Finnick didn't even have a chance to sigh before he forced himself to smile and wave. The crowd grew tighter and bigger within seconds, and the Peacekeepers that operated the train had to hold the photographers and roaring crowd back so Finnick could walk through. He blew kisses and tried to ignore the strangeness of people reaching out in hopes that they could touch him.

He somehow made it into the large building that he would be living in for the next couple of weeks. Although he would hardly spend any time relaxing, between his two jobs he was going to be busier than ever.

Cintia greeted him with a hug, and turned quickly towards a flash so they could get a good picture together. Finnick grinned from habit.

They spoke lightly of trivial things while she showed him District 4's suite on the fourth floor. She told him that the tributes were with the prep team right now- she called Annie and Maxxie the tributes despite knowing their names fully well.

Mags was in the suite calmly watching Caesar Flickerman's 24 hour broadcast countdown. During the games he literally did not leave his position at the desk. Even while he interviewed the mentors, there was a large screen playing the games in the background. He would interrupt to explain something occurring at the moment and Finnick was easily annoyed by it, but he would never say that. Of course not, he had his on switch flipped up from now on. From now on he would be lovely and pleasant and wonderful at all times. It was like his own 24 hour job.

He asked to see everyone's rooms and Cintia showed him without question. He mindfully commented on the color schemes for each and when she arrogantly smirked and informed him that it was her that had made the final call on it he gushed on about how amazing she was.

While faking awe over the tiles of the bathroom in Annie's room, Finnick quickly stuffed the backpack of books into the closet.

Cintia did not notice its absence. "I was trying to be subtle, you know? It is District four of course, so it is quite important to have a blue bathtub." She shrugged. "Who wouldn't think of that?"

"I certainly wouldn't have," Finnick shook his head. "You're so smart and creative, Cintia."

She let out a shrill giggle. "You're so sweet, Finnick." She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.

"Shall we go back into the living room?" He suggested before she would start making a move on him.

She pursed her lips, seemingly upset by his 'inability' to see her advances. "Of course," she quipped, and walked past him on smaller heels than she had been wearing before.

Finnick walked over to the couch and plopped down next to Mags. Caesar Flickerman was commenting on the pool of tributes this year and Claudius Templesmith was agreeing with him. "One district that really caught my attention was District Four." He stated.

"Hmm, yes. Their tributes look a bit err… skimpy." Claudius offered.

"Oh I wouldn't underestimate them, Claudius!" Caesar exclaimed cheerily. "You know the worst we can do when the Hunger Games come around is believe that anything will be the same. Don't you remember when young Finnick was reaped? He won at only 14 years old!" The audience was roaring with screams of excitement and applause.

"I've just gotten word that they're ready for the ceremony." Cintia said excitedly. "Oh I just can't wait to see what the stylists have planned for this year."

Finnick looked at Mags skeptically as they followed Cintia to the elevator. Last year the stylists had dressed their tributes up as fish. What a year that had been, not only were both tributes killed in the bloodbath, but Caesar had laughed about it when he interviewed Finnick. _Laughed_!

Cintia was babbling incessantly about how there was a new stylist, Bregje, that would be joining the already existent team, composed of women named Iva and Lais. Finnick knew them well, they'd been the prep team for as long as he could remember, even dressing him for his year. But the head stylist had changed over the years since none could really get it right.

"Welcome!" Iva enveloped Finnick in a hug before he could even see it coming. "How have you been, Finnick?"

She moved on to hug Mags and Finnick grinned. "I've been alright, but you just saw me last week, you know how I'm doing!"

Iva was short and plump. She had the skin color of someone from a District and choppy brown hair. She never looked different besides what she was wearing, and Finnick applauded her for that. In truth, Iva was very pleasant to be around, not like anyone else from the Capitol. Her temper was short and she was very sarcastic, although her sarcasm sometimes went unnoticed by her fellow Capitolites, who were often too dense to recognize her humor. She laughed airily. "I still like to be polite, dummy."

Lais was running towards him on sky high heels, her thin body probably being propelled forward by the draft in the room. Really, she could've been blown away by a sea breeze. Her hair was a bright green today, her skin tinted the lightest shade of blue. She had rhinestones stuck to the tops of her eyelashes and was wearing a tight dress that left virtually nothing to the imagination.

"Hi, Finnick!" She was beaming, looking down on him from her cheated height.

"Lais," he murmured, taking her hand and kissing it lightly. She erupted into a fit of giggles and sauntered off to the other room.

"She's excited about Bregje," Iva explained. "He's quite handsome if I do say so myself."

"How are his designs?" Finnick asked.

"Simple," Iva motioned for him and Mags to follow her into the room Lais had ran into. "But unique. I like them, at least. They're not too flashy and out there, kind of…"

"Natural?" Finnick offered.

"Yes," she beamed.

"That's good to hear," Mags suddenly chirped up from next to Finnick. She too was worried about another year as fish.

They rounded the corner and were welcomed to a long tunnel that led to the entrance of the large square of the Capitol. The chants from the crowd echoed through the entire pathway. Twelve chariots with horses were lined up in a row, ready to go. The tributes were all dressed in their opening ceremony garb, twelve as coal miners of course.

District 4 was farther up front, and Finnick could see Annie's distinct brown hair bobbing in ahead. Her hair had been curled, ringlets cascaded down her back but stopped short from their usual place of her hip.

She was talking to a handsome Capitol citizen- must have been Bregje- who had thick yellowish blonde hair and pale white skin. He was wearing a shiny blue suit that seemed to reflect scales, like of a fish. Finnick had to admit he seemed very approachable and familiar, which must've been comforting for Annie. But Finnick couldn't help feeling a bit protective of her when Bregje put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. He wore a genuine smile and was nodding, occasionally tipping his head back with laughter. Annie's hair shifted with every movement of her head.

Lais was tightening something around Maxxie's neck, and that's when everything came into sight. They had dressed them as sailors. Maxxie was wearing white pants that had one thick and one thin navy blue stripe at the bottom of the feet. The collar of his polo shirt also had the same thick and thin line. Around his neck was an ascot of the same shade.

Annie turned around to see who was coming, and for the first time he could get a look at her. She looked… stunning. The same outfit as Maxxie except the pants were switched for a white pleated skirt that stopped hardly in the center of her thigh. Finnick gulped, the exposed skin of her thigh just as creamy looking as the nape of her neck.

"Finnick?" Mags voice sounded in his ear.

He looked up to see Bregje smiling at him with his hand outstretched, "Err.. Hi! I'm Finnick Odair."

"I know!" Bregje laughed airily, "Everyone knows you. I saw you admiring the designs, what do you think? Retro, right? I personally was getting so sick of those stupid fish costumes, god I think if I saw another tuna again in those chariots I'd blow my brains out!" He grinned.

Lais laughed at Bregje's comments. "You look a bit flushed, Finnick." Iva noted. He shot her a look trying to command her to stop. "Your ears are bright red."

"It's just a bit hot in here. " He said quickly, smiling at Bregje. "I love the designs, except…" Bregje's smile faltered a bit as Finnick took him by the arm and walked a bit out of earshot of the others, he could feel everyone's eyes on him, especially Annie's. "Don't you think her skirt is a bit…."

"Short?" Bregje helped. When Finnick nodded he only chuckled, "Of course its short! Short is sexy, we're trying to sell her to the people! And with that face… maybe a few more touch ups… She'd be gorgeous. She certainly has my cards on the table in that skirt."

Finnick looked over at Annie, who was staring at him with wide eyes and he grimaced. He reared his head back to the airheaded stylist, "I just thought we'd sell her as more innocent. You know? She doesn't seem like the sexy type."

"You've got it chief," Bregje patted Finnick's shoulder a bit harshly and he couldn't tell if the yellow haired man was mocking him. "You call the shots. Except I'm afraid it might be a bit late to change things up with _this_ outfit…"

As he said those exact words Caesar Flickerman began announcing the event. The Capitol crowd going crazy, streamers and confetti were already being thrown down to the tributes which hadn't even left the tunnel yet.

Finnick walked over to the others, who pretended his absence meant nothing. "Mags, did you already tell them?" She nodded. And he sighed in relief, "Alright, I'll see you guys on the other side then." He smiled and winked at the two, who stood side by side, a bit paralyzed looking.

He left with Mags to the Mentor's Lounge, basically a room with couches and booze where the mentors sat and watched their tributes get slain in the company of each other. Finnick disliked it very much. It was very difficult to watch those games again and again every year, not to mention the other mentors were sometimes hard to be around. Some did not have the same empathy levels as that of a sane person.

When the elevator took them up, they arrived at a large corridor; at the end of the hall was a large open room with a large screen. Most of the mentors were already crowded around the couches, some more comfortable with standing, some more comfortable with shutting their ears and eyes and standing far from the others. To each his own.

After the formalities and kisses on cheeks and politeness of greetings, Finnick made space for himself between Johanna and Cashmere on the couch. Although Johanna didn't mind, Cashmere made a sort of growling noise from the back of her throat.

"Now now," Finnick put an arm around her shoulder and flashed her a bright smile. "Let's play nice this year, Cashmere."

She rolled her eyes. "What do you mean? I always play nice."

"Now our tributes," Gloss stirred next to his sister, pushing Finnick's arm off her shoulders. "They'll tear your little kids in two."

Cashmere threw her head back in laughter, "Seriously! What the hell happened there, Finnick? Why'd you get such shitty tributes this year? Is there mercury poisoning going around four or something?"

Finnick shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but didn't make it obvious to that he was upset by their comments. "Whatever, we'll see who wins this year."

"Uh-oh," the 68th Victor, Clara, District 7, joined the conversation from her seat a couple of feet away. Despite her being merely 16 years old she had a martini glass in her hand. "Bruise to the big ego going on."

Johanna laughed loudly, "Oh shut up, Clara. Drink your virgin cocktail."

Finnick snickered at her comment, along with a couple others. The newest victors were always so arrogant coming out of the games, the shock usually set in later. Usually those who volunteered and those who were rather heartless didn't have too much damage from the games, though.

Caesar Flickerman's loud Capitol accent filled the room and automatically quieted the initial chatter in the room. "Here comes District 1… How absolutely amazing! Look at those costumes-"

Cashmere and Gloss simultaneously choked on their identical mimosas as their two burly tributes appeared as shiny masses of silver. "Fucking ridiculous," Cashmere spat under her breath.

"You'd think after 70 years of doing this shit they'd find a better costume than modified steel wool to symbolize 'luxury'." Johanna scoffed.

A couple other District 1 mentors were laughing drunkenly at their tributes' attempts to give menacing looks to the camera.

District 2 and 3 passed along in usual fashion, more bright colors to represent 2's manufacturing of Capitol goods and more metallic looking things to represent technology.

"I'm ready to see some fish!" Proclaimed Haymitch, who was holding onto Chaff's shoulder with one hand and a large bottle of Brandy with the other.

Finnick received a couple pats on the back following the laughter that ensued. He crossed his arms as if he were upset but smirked knowingly.

Annie and Max rode up next; they were smiling and holding hands, waving to the crowd. Max's grin was wide and sweet looking, and Annie looked so dainty and petite, her smile coy but innocent. The crowd went wild. They looked like brother and sister with their caring gesture, and even Caesar Flickerman went wild over the 'cuteness' of it.

Annie's costume, however, was receiving a bit of negative impact. A couple of mentors whistled and cat-called as her pleated skirt flapped dangerously close to exposure in the wind.

"How are you going to pay attention to anything with that thing around," Haymitch guffawed.

Finnick was growing annoyed with the mentors. Even though he condoned and laughed at the way they made fun of the other tributes, even in the last years he sometimes joined in, but now he was getting a bit flustered.

"Like a normal person? I can be civil." He said irritated.

Johanna scoffed; "As if," she motioned to the hand he had subconsciously placed on her thigh. "You can hardly keep your paws off."

He quickly took his hand from her leg and rung his hands.

"Yeah kiddo," District 4's other mentor, Alice, who lived in the Capitol, laughed. "Be careful out there."

Finnick felt the vein in his neck throb with anger. "Whatever, I'm gonna go get some air."

"Don't accidentally fuck anyone while you're gone," called Johanna playfully.

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><p><strong>I always imagined the mentors never really care about their tributes, which is why I think Finnick and Annie's relationship is so unique. Anyway, here's a pretty short chapter, its kind of a filler for the more exciting things to come later. <strong>

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: In the last chapter I posted, I only just realized later that Johanna wasn't a victor until the 71st hunger games. Oops. We'll just have to overlook that haha. Anyway, I would really like feedback on this story, because I don't know if I should continue or not since no one is saying anything, so please follow, favorite, and review! Thanks!**

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><p>Annie exhaled the breath she was holding as the horse carriages re-entered the tunnels. Maxxie still wouldn't let go of her hand as peacekeepers rounded them up into an elevator. Inside, and elevator engineer pressed level 4 and the car began to ascend.<p>

She tugged at her skirt and tried pulling it down as much as she could without exposing her midriff. Maxxie was also fidgeting in his uncomfortable costume, pulling at the ascot at his neck that was unmistakably suffocating him.

"Here," Annie offered, letting go of his hand. "Let me."

She bent down and undid the tight knot, letting the red ribbon sit under his collar.

"Hey, that's something you know how to do really well," Annie pointed out, "We know how to tie knots better than anyone else, cause we're district four."

Maxxie sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

She noticed his disinterest in holding conversation, so she just dropped it altogether. The elevator stopped at their floor and they got out.

Maxxie immediately walked off into the direction of his own room without a word. Annie called after him, but he said he was going to take a nap. There was a sponsor's ball tonight anyway, and Mags had said they should probably rest up, because there was going to be a lot of mooching.

At the mention of the ball, all of the stylists seemed to begin bouncing on the balls of their feet with contained excitement, which made Annie a bit nervous.

She made her way to her own room, getting to see it for the first time. Cintia, Finnick, and Mags were nowhere to be found, which was a bit nerve-wracking yet peaceful all in the same. Their absence let her believe that, just for a moment, this wasn't real. She could pretend she could enjoy the luxuries the suite offered without having to enter the games. Very wishful thinking.

Her room was larger than her old room at Adelma's house. In fact, it might have been bigger than Adelma's entire house.

She had her own door, and bathroom. The bathroom had a claw footed tub _and_ a shower with four different nozzles. Four mirrors in the bathroom, and around six more in the actual room itself. There was a walk in closet full of clothes, hung up was a large zipped up bag on a hanger which she presumed was her dress for the night. She grabbed a sweater and comfortable looking loose pants and brought them over to her bed.

Her bed was a king sized bed, when she thought about it, she was almost positive she could fit about seven of herself on it. She and Maxxie and Finnick and Mags could all sleep together in it if they wanted to.

It had fluffy pillows and a comforter so airy that it deflated a bit when she laid her clothes on top of it. She resisted the urge to jump on it and snuggle in it with the worry that its beautiful presentation would be ruined.

By far the best part of the room, though, was the balcony. It overlooked the Capitols tall skyscrapers and manmade courtyards. The river Annie had read about in newspapers she sometimes found in the disposal bins near the Victors Village was gleaming bright and clear; the water was completely transparent, unlike the murky saltwater that licked the shores of District 4.

Annie took off her shirt and slipped the sweater on just as her door flung open. Finnick stood in the doorway, his face contorted in anger. His eyes softened when they met hers, and then noticed her flushed expression and state of near-undressed-ness. "Oh, god, sorry." He shielded his eyes and shut the door quickly.

Annie was shaking with embarrassment; Finnick Odair had just seen her pale stomach. Finnick Odair had just seen her in this dreadful skirt _again_. She quickly changed into the pants and looked at herself in the mirror. Her makeup was still caked on and her hair was still stuck up prettily in all kinds of clips and pins she couldn't even dream of undoing.

She pressed and prodded her face, judging her paleness and the bags under her eyes before asking herself _what was she doing?_ She knew the answer though, she just wasn't telling herself.

The closet also offered a wide variety of socks and shoes, of which she chose a pair of tube socks and no footwear. The socks made her slide around on the tile floors and made her think of the dancers the Capitol showcased every December in wind of the changing seasons. She did a couple of spins in the mirror with her socks, content.

She left her room only to see Finnick pacing in the living room pulling on his lip with his hand. She was about to go back to her room, almost too embarrassed to face him, when he caught met eyes with her. She widened her eyes surprised; his eyes were so brilliantly green, it took her back.

"Annie, sorry I-"

"Sorry!" she said simultaneously.

His eyebrows furrowed, "Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know," she admitted nervously, staring down at her socks.

She heard him chuckle to himself a bit. "Just so you know, I wasn't _trying_ to walk in on you. I thought you were still at the ceremony."

"Oh," she looked up and met his eyes again before shifting her gaze to the green couch cushions.

"Your room has the best view," he explained. "Sometimes it's just nice to see a body of water once in a while."

She met his eyes again, and this time she didn't budge. He was smiling at her. He was using the Capitol shit-eating smile, but his eyes were sad. He didn't want to be in the Capitol constantly. Annie was already sick of it and it was still her first day, she couldn't imagine how he was coping for five years. "Do you miss home a lot?"

He laughed and stared at the floor. "Well, I'm forced by the law to say no…" there was a touch of resentment and venom in his voice. "But, yeah. A lot more than a lot."

Annie gave him a melancholy smile and moved down to sit in an armchair. She sat cross-legged in the fine leather, her back sinking into the deep cushions. "I can't imagine what it's like." She admitted. "And that river…. That doesn't come close to a body of water."

He laughed and followed her lead by sitting on the green couch. His shoulders relaxed from their stiffened posture and it was obvious he was feeling better than he was before. "There really is nothing quite like the ocean at four."

She nodded in agreement. It was hard to continue the talk of home, her throat closed up a bit as she fought through their conversation. Finnick was noticeably sad about missing home too.

"Sometimes," Annie could feel his deep voice resonating in her ribcage. "I don't even want to go home for the little amount of time the Capitol lets me." He admitted. "It hurts more to go for a short amount of time than to never go at all."

"Do you have family at home?" She kicked herself. She knew the answer. The Capitol killed Finnick's parents and sister the minute he won. She remembered seeing the Peacekeepers marching in the direction of their house and then her mother taking her away from the window as they returned moments later, dragging the bodies with one hand unceremoniously to wherever they would be disposed of.

"Nah," Finnick's voice managed to hold steady as he said so. "They, uh, didn't make it."

He didn't specify what they didn't make it out of, and Annie didn't persist. "I'm so sorry, Finnick."

He scrunched his nose, like he was trying to get rid of a bad smell. "Its no one's fault but mine." He admitted. "What about you? Family? Friends? Boyfriends?"

Annie blanched. Her family was one long story, but her friends; well she didn't really _have_ any. Everyone who was able enough to go to school thought she was a dirty street rat, and the kids in the far end of town all looked at her as if she were mother goose. Did she really have any friends? "Um, well my family didn't really make it either. And uh, my friends didn't really care… that this happened…"

It wasn't a lie. There were people at school that thought she was alright, but no one ever came to her to say goodbye. No one looked at her when she walked up to that empty podium.

Finnick's voice was slightly playful, "Don't worry, I don't really have any friends either."

"What are you talking about?!" Annie defended, "Everyone _loves_ you."

"They like the idea of me," he was still using this light tone that made Annie nervous. "They don't really like _me_."

"Well it must be better than not being liked at all." She crossed her arms over her chest and snuggled deeper into the couch cushions.

"Hmm," he hummed. His voice was so deep and sultry it almost made the hairs on the back of Annie's neck stick up straight. "I don't know," he shrugged. "In the end, what does it even matter if people like you or not. As long as I'm on the Capitol's good side, all the Districts could hate me and I wouldn't care less."

Annie comprehended what he was saying for a moment. "Finnick," it was one of the first times she said his name. It felt foreign on her tongue, after hearing it in the Capitol accent so many times she felt as if she should have used their pronunciation.

His eyes flickered to hers and her heart was going a mile a minute.

"Let's say, hypothetically, I manage to get out of the games by some force of a greater being,"

He chuckled, "It doesn't have to be a hypothetical-"

"Oh it's definitely a hypothetical," she cut him off. "What I'm wondering is, do they do to every victor what they did to you?"

He was quiet for a while. He stared at his hands, his brows furrowed. He wrung his hands as if trying to rub something off of them. "I don't know." He said quietly. "They do it to a lot of the victors, I know that. Sometimes if a victor is mentally unstable coming out of the games they let them slide, but most victors haven't returned home. A lot of them serve the Capitol. I think if you made it out you might be one of them."

She felt his gaze on her as she comprehended his words. "Okay so from your experience, what would you say is the best to get out of it?"

"Don't resist. That's the best way."

She looked up, her mouth slightly open in confusion. "What do you mean? There's no way to avoid-?"

"I had nothing to gain and everything to lose," Finnick stood up. "And they took everything away from me because I refused them."

He walked past her chair and towards their chambers.

"Your books are in your closet, by the way."

She wasn't sure if she had upset him. Finnick was awfully difficult to read. Children were open books, sometimes you didn't even have to read their emotions because they would just tell you. But Finnick wasn't a child. She wasn't among children anymore. Annie was completely in over her head.

* * *

><p>"I think we have to take it in at the waist and the bust a little more," Bregje added.<p>

Iva nodded in agreement. She lifted Annie's thin arm and stuck pins into bunched up fabric underneath.

"What about the actual length of the dress?" Lais asked. "Shouldn't it be shorter?"

"Oh yes, Annie," Bregje snapped her attention to him. "We really got the Capitol going with your costume today. They kept talking about, oh, what's it called again? Oh yes, honey thighs." He smirked. "Quite the impression on the crowd."

Lais was laughing giddily whereas Iva seemed to be cursing the two under her breath. Annie felt her face turn bright red. "I don't know-"

"Oh sweetheart," Bregje crooned. "Look how absolutely _ah-dorable_ you are! Don't worry, no more honey thighs."

"We're only taking in the length so it's a couple of inches above the knee." Iva said it like it was a promise.

"Yes yes, I had a little chat with that beautiful boy, Finnick." Bregje was running a hand through his perfectly styled yellow curls looking quite flustered. "He said we should stop with the sexy, start with the simple. Well, he didn't say it like that; I made that up just now, quite good, no?"

Iva nodded to shut him up but Lais gushed on about his genius.

Annie's entire face was hot. Finnick had discussed her outfits with them? Why did he care? Did he think she looked bad? That was probably it, the costume from the morning had been way too racy for someone like Annie. Finnick probably preferred girls with curves and conviction. Not Annie's bony frame and strange personality.

"Hello, hello? Iva to Annie Cresta, requesting reply." Iva had a hand over her mouth and mimicked the sound of a crackling microphone.

Annie snapped out of her thoughts and laughed. "Sorry, I spaced out a little."

Iva winked, "Its fine. Bregje and Lais went off to take care of Maxwell."

"He, err, likes being called Maxxie." Annie corrected politely.

"Oh, sorry. I'll start calling him that." Iva continued pulling on the loose ends of Annie's dress and pinning them up. She paused before stopping and looking at Annie. "You don't have to be so polite with me, you know? I know the Capitolites look like they can eat you, but it's just makeup. Swear."

Annie giggled but made a point not to laugh too hard. "I just try to be nice to people, because then they have no reason to be mean to me."

"That seems foolproof," Iva nodded thoughtfully. "But in all honesty, hun, I don't think people liking you should be what you're worrying about right now. Let Finnick and Mags deal with your publicity, you just worry about getting out."

Annie stared at Iva. "How come you're not like the rest of them? The people from the Capitol, I mean. Sorry."

"Its fine," Iva smirked. "My mom was a District 5 victor. She had me in five and then the Capitol moved her here and I grew up here. Of course, she never let me get to be like them. When I was growing up I was always the outcast, but now I'm pretty thankful she raised me like that, cause I'm not completely nuts."

"Wow," Annie was thoughtful. "Where's your mom now?"

"Dead." Iva motioned a plump finger over her neck. "Didn't obey the Capitol, out she went. Such a shame."

Annie grew pale. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

Iva shrugged. "It's nothing I can do. It's her own damn fault." She bent down to pin the hips of the dress. "I'll tell you something, Annie. The Capitol doesn't play around." She straightened out and looked her in the eyes. "For your own good, whatever they tell you to do is better than what they'll do to you if you don't."

* * *

><p>Finnick paced in the living room of the District 4 suite. His conversation with Annie earlier had made him upset, and it was noticeable when he went to go meet with his clients. Usually Finnick could effortlessly flirt and pleasure his clients without a second thought, but today he found his mind wandering off, her wide green doe eyes burning the back of his eyelids. When his client would ask what was wrong, he would lie smoothly and explain he was thinking about them, how much they had missed them.<p>

He didn't know what it was about Annie, but he really for some reason couldn't figure her out. She saw right through him. She got flustered when he acted flirtatious, but she didn't try to take advantage of him. In the end, the thought it was actually kind of funny, of course the lanky quiet girl from his own District would be the one to drive him crazy in the end.

Mags appeared from her room and sat on the couch, she was patting down the creases in her formal wear when she caught his eye and nodded towards the doorway.

Finnick turned, his heartbeat escalating, expecting to see Annie, only to see Maxxie dressed in an identical tuxedo to him, wiping his eyes.

"Heya, buddy," Finnick took a couple steps towards Maxxie and squatted down to his level. "What's got ya down?"

Maxxie sniffled, his tuxedo jacket was buttoned incorrectly and the shirt inside was wrinkled; he had also obviously wiped his tears and snot all over his collar. "I miss home," he blubbered quietly.

Finnick frowned, "Aw man," he combed the boy's soft white hair into a tidier style than it's stuck up bedhead. "Me too."

"I just want to go home," he continued. "And see my mom… and dad…"

Finnick waited till he finished, "How about this, you spend the night hanging out with me and Annie, we're gonna have tons of fun, just the three of us, and these next couple of nights'll fly by. Next thing you know, you're on your way home." He bit his lip; he didn't know how much of what he had just told the young boy would be true.

"Okay," Maxxie didn't seem to have overheard the plan; it was more like he just wanted to get out of the conversation.

Finnick rose and walked over to where Mags was on the couch. "Mags, can you do me a favor and take Maxxie to the stylists so they can just… er… fix him up a little? I'll get Annie and meet you down there."

Mags gave Finnick a wink before taking Maxxie's hand in hers and leading him out of the suite.

He swallowed quickly and turned to head down the corridor. He was so wary of his actions before he knocked on her door, something he never worried about when it came to girls. "Annie? We have to get going."

"Oh, sorry!" he heard from inside.

There were the unmistakable click of heels from inside that grew closer to the door before the knob turned and the door opened. When Finnick got a look at Annie, he felt the air escape his lungs. "You look… really nice."

"Thank you," she smiled shyly, her cheeks getting rosy as he stared at her. "I, uh, just have to get one thing from inside."

"Sure." He managed to choke out.

Finnick half followed her inside, when she entered the bathroom, he stopped at a mirror and began absentmindedly tying his bowtie. He had never had to do it himself before, but he wasn't even paying attention, his eyes were on her.

She was wearing a dark purple dress with a v-neckline encrusted with diamonds, the dress seemed to just lightly touch her curves, but still flowed down to brush the tops of her knees. The dress had an open back that served as a frame for her flowing brown hair. She wasn't wearing any makeup, and it looked so much better that way. Her heels weren't horrible, two or three inches with the same diamonds that caressed her neckline.

She was putting some of the jewelry the stylists had given her on her wrists when she turned around to see him staring at her. He quickly adverted his eyes back to his bowtie, pretending as if it had never happened.

"What are you doing?" she scoffed. She walked towards him, and for a second he could have sworn she was about to hit him for staring. "That's not how you tie a bowtie."

_ Of course,_ he thought. _This is Annie we're talking about, she wouldn't believe a guy was staring at her even if he told her so._

"Here," her dark purple manicured nails reached out to help him. She batted his hands away, which now next to her dainty thin fingers looked ginormous. Johanna mocking him for having paws suddenly seemed accurate now.

She popped his collar and straightened out the black strip. "Where did you learn to tie a bowtie?" he laughed, his eyes were on the ceiling.

"I tie a lot of shoelaces," she said quietly with a smirk. Her fingers tightened and untightened and she made sure it wasn't suffocating him yet it wasn't loose. "There," she proclaimed, straightening out his collar again and smoothing it over his jacket. "License to kill." She said under her breath.

Finnick admired her handiwork in the mirror before turning to look at her, "What?"

"It's a book." She smiled lightly.

"About a license to kill?" They began to walk out of the suite and into the corridor.

"Well… no. It's about a spy. A man who works for the government. He has a license to kill."

"So like a peacekeeper?" He asked. They entered the elevator and the doors closed. The elevator shot down at an alarming speed.

"No…" Annie looked like she was sad, yet holding back laughter. "I think it makes more sense in context of the time period… anyway, the spy wore lots of bowties and tuxedos."

"He sounds like an ass," Finnick grinned cheekily.

Annie smirked, "You two are one in the same,"

Just then, the elevators opened up and the District 1 tributes, along with their main mentors, Cashmere and Gloss entered.

"Well well well," Gloss looked from Annie to Finnick as he stepped into the elevator. "That's your new record, Odair."

Finnick was mortified; he didn't dare look at Annie.

Cashmere and their tributes snickered before the two mentors shot them looks to show some respect. "Hey, brats, only we can make fun of Odair." Cashmere spat at them. "Next year when one of you are mentoring the new pair of brats, _then_ you can make fun of Odair."

The tributes grinned at each other and then looked Annie over, clearly unimpressed.

"Hey, guys," Finnick started, addressing the mentors. "What's up? You're being like, shittier than usual."

The tributes looked to their mentors to gouge their reactions. They had clearly already gotten a taste of Gloss' wonderful temper.

Instead Gloss and Cashmere laughed and gave Finnick playful punches on the shoulders. "You're a good kid, Odair." Cashmere made out between laughs.

The elevator doors opened and before Finnick and Annie could even try to get off, the District 1ers pushed ahead of them and went down the corridor like a scary gang.

Finnick let Annie step off first, and then led her in the same direction.

"Annie, I am so sorry, they are such asses they're just-"

"Don't worry about it," Annie smiled. "You're a good kid, Odair." She mimicked Cashmere's slight Capitol accent.

Finnick laughed at her imitation, relieved.

They continued their little banter until they got to the end of the corridor; two large wooden doors seemed to scream that the ballroom was on the other side.

"I'm supposed to give you pointers before you go in there," Finnick said suddenly, his hand on the door. "Ah, shit, where's Mags when you need her."

"Does it really matter how I act?" Annie asked.

"Oh yeah," Finnick nodded. His eyes were wide with worry. "This is life or death. I'm going to introduce you to sponsors, these guys were the ones that funded my games, so, they're really big on four loyalty."

Annie gulped. She had horrible people skills with adults. Let alone Capitol adults.

"Just, be polite, laugh at their jokes, don't worry I'll tell you when they're trying to be funny," he winked. Annie laughed nervously. "And..-oh! Don't eat anything, trust me, there'll be dinner at the suite afterwards ok? Ok. I think that's it."

"You look kind of worried, should I be worried?"

He shook his head. "You're golden, they'll love you. Pretty, shy, polite, you wore that _whatever it was _as a costume in the opening ceremonies… trust me, you're already in their crowd."

Annie flushed at the mention of her short costume. The sound of Bregje saying _honey thighs_ rang in her mind.

"Let's go." Finnick decided, pushing open the doors.

* * *

><p><strong>I know there's no sponsors ball either, but I just wanted to add that in to get some of the story and people's relationships progressing. Hopefully it'll fit well with the story, I think it does. Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm back! I tried to wait to update until more people have read the story, that, and I was writing a lot of other stuff. After this update, I might update tomorrow, or maybe even later today. Enjoy!**

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><p>Within <em>seconds<em> of entering the room, Finnick was engulfed by men and women alike just _gushing _over him. The rest of the guests, who were mostly tributes and mentors all had similar variations of the face of someone who had just tasted something sour plastered over their faces. Annie saw Mags and Maxxie in the nearest corner of the room watching the spectacle. She quickly made her way over to them, forgetting about Finnick for a moment.

"Hey," she greeted them. She looked back over her shoulder to see Finnick looking at her with an expression she couldn't seem to figure out, the Capitolites still swarming him. She looked back to Maxxie and Mags, "That's _crazy_ isn't it?"

Mags smiled and nodded. "Every year, same deal."

Maxxie didn't seem to care, he was grasping onto Mags hand, staring at nothing in particular.

"How are you holding up, Maxxie?" Annie asked.

When he didn't answer, she knelt down and looked him in the eyes. He continued to pretend he wasn't aware of her yet. Annie crossed her eyes, flared her nostrils, stretched her face out into the strangest of contortions until Maxxie finally budged and doubled over in laughter on top of her.

Mags stared in awe. "How did you do that?" she mouthed.

Annie knew how to get kids out of even the worst of moods. "Took you long enough! What's up?"

Maxxie furrowed his blonde brows. "The sleeves are tight and Mags says I can't have food." He harrumphed. He then raised his arms up to show that they only went up about halfway in the tight jacket.

"I'm sorry about that," Annie sympathized. "If it makes you feel any better, I have to wear these," she pointed at her shoes. "Pretty even deal, looks like."

He shook his head, "I have it way worse!" Maxxie stuck his tongue out.

Annie stuck her tongue out at him and soon enough they were forehead to forehead sticking their tongues out at each other trying to get the other to back down.

"Oh, that is positively pre-shus!" A shrill Capitol accent broke their concentration.

Annie looked up to see Finnick staring down at her, his arm wrapped around the waist of a pretty Capitol woman with pink skin and purple hair. Behind him were a group of more Capitolites.

She stood quickly, Maxxie doing the same. Mags took Maxxie by the hand and led him off towards another group of Capitol citizens, probably sponsors Mags knew well.

"You must be Annie Cresta," one of the Capitol men with blue skin said warmly, he extended his hand. "My name is Fredderick Holter."

"Nice to meet you," Annie took his hand and tried to give what she assumed was a firm shake.

He took his hand back with a hearty chuckle, "What a strong shake! She'll win, this one!" the group laughed, including Finnick. He nodded his head and winked, apparently her cue to laugh along with them.

The others introduced themselves to her and soon enough they were rattling off all kinds of questions to her. What did she think of the food? The city? It was so much better than the districts, wasn't it? Trivial things of that nature. She kept looking at Finnick, expecting him to shoot her a goofy grin and roll his eyes at how vapid they all were, but he never even looked at her. He was giving them his absolute undivided attention.

"Now dear," the woman who was twining her fingers in and out of Finnick's larger ones spoke up. "What's the story behind that dress? It's absolutely lovely. Like it was made for you."

"I heard four's new stylist was Bregje," cut in a man named Mara.

Excited murmurs went around the group before the woman hushed them to hear her answer.

"Well, the stylists approached me all together and asked what I wanted." Annie explained.

"You came up with _that_?!" Someone said surprised.

"Shush!" the woman was now touching Finnick's chest, letting her hand travel inside his jacket and lingering. "She wasn't done speaking."

"They didn't give me that many options," Annie laughed. "They really just asked me what color I wanted. There's this device in Bregje's studio that lets you make up whatever colors you want, you all know what it is right?" Annie asked the crowd. They all nodded quickly murmuring the name under their breath. "Well I made this color on that device and they took my measurements and voila!" Annie held out her arms to show off a bit.

The oohs and aahs died down. "You came up with that color just out of the blue? It's so beautiful!"

"I've always loved this color," Annie smiled shyly. "It's been my favorite ever since I can remember. There's this story, well it's kind of boring…"

The group still huddled in the corner egged her on to tell the story. Finnick nodded her on. She felt relieved to finally get a reaction out of him, but he adverted his gaze back to the Capitol lady who was whispering something into his ear ever so softly and carefully.

"In four, there's a saying that goes 'red sky at night, sailors delight'. It doesn't mean the sky is literally red, but it's kind of tinted red. And that saying is important because it means that the weather will be nice. So when I was younger, my parents and I would sit on the back porch and watch the sunset behind the water…" Annie could remember the scene so vividly in her head; it was almost as if she were reliving it. "And my father would hold my mother in his arms until the sky got dark… and they were so beautiful together. They were so in love. I remember lots of kids in my school complaining about how their parents fought a lot, but mine never did. And so we'd all sit in the quiet as it got dark, and we'd listen to the waves crashing onto the shore and the bell from the buoy a mile offshore. And if the sky was tinted red, then we'd go back inside and my father would leave early in the morning to go on the all-day fishermans boat. And he'd give my mother a big kiss on the lips and he'd give me a big kiss on my head and he'd leave. But when the sky was this color," Annie motioned to the color of her dress. "It was such a distinct shade of purple… it always meant the waves would be too rough in the morning to go out. So my dad would stay home with me and my mom. And once we saw that color in the sky, my dad would start singing this song to my mom…"

The Capitolites watched in rapt attention as Annie sang her father's song.

"'What a day this has been… What a rare mood I'm in… Why it's almost like bein' in love…'" she sang lightly, her eyes closed, remembering her father's deep sultry voice. "It went something like that. And I really love that memory, when I think of home, I think of the sky."

A couple of the Capitolites were drying tears, their makeup running down their faces in blubbering messes, including the woman on Finnick's arm. He was staring at Annie with his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to ask her something, or tell her something.

"Where are your parents now? Waiting for you to come back home I presume." Fredderick nodded to himself.

"Oh, no…" Annie smiled sadly. "My father didn't come home one day… I was about eleven or twelve or so… his boat just got lost at sea I guess. And my mother died a little bit after that. She died of heartbreak." Lies. She found her mother hanging from the rafters of the back porch. It was a suicide, because she was too afraid of dealing with life alone.

The group broke down again. "Ms. Cresta," Fredderick proclaimed. Her hands in the both of his and this time, he shook her hand. "I'll be watching you quite closely, dear."

Finnick's group all murmured with agreement. They slowly one by one made their way to her and gave her some sort of gesture, business cards, handshakes, kisses, even hugs.

Soon enough it was just Finnick and the Capitol lady left standing there, "You are such a darling girl, isn't she Fee-nick?"

Her accent was so potent it almost gave her a headache. Annie smiled though, this woman had been so kind towards her, she had absolutely no reason whatsoever to be bitter.

"Maybe one day we'll be like sweet Annie Cresta's parents," Capitol lady giggled sweetly as she wrapped her arms around Finnick's neck and swooped in to kiss him.

Annie watched for a moment before looking away. He was kissing her so passionately, his hands were gripping her waist like she was going to move away from him, and it was the last thing on earth he wanted to happen.

She stared down at her shoes as they broke away and she sighed contentedly, "I'm going to go get a drink." She concluded. "Annie dear? Look at me."

Annie's face shot straight up. Finnick was staring at Annie, but she pretended not to notice

"Would you like anything, dear?"

Annie shook her head quickly. "Thank you, though."

"Darling?" She tugged Finnick's jacket sleeve and he looked to her quickly.

"Just you," he smirked.

"Ugh," she rolled her eyes, but was smiling widely. "Men," she scoffed, looking at Annie. "They're so cheeky." She winked and made her way over to the drink table.

Finnick dropped his grin and looked in the opposite direction of where she was walking. He spit on the ground and made a series of disgusted noises.

"What are you-"

"It's my job, okay? Don't make fun." He explained. His brows were furrowed with worry. "She pays me to do this stuff with her; I don't actually feel that way about her."

Annie's eyes widened, she took a step back. "You… you don't have to explain anything to me. You know,"

"I just…" Finnick was going to say something but the woman returned with a greenish liquid in a tall champagne glass.

"I should get back to Maxxie and Mags," Annie blurted quickly.

Finnick's arm latched around the woman's waist again, almost robotically. He opened his mouth to interject, but then realized the situation.

"Alright, dear. Have a nice night, it was _wonderful_ meeting you!" she called after Annie.

* * *

><p>Annie met up with Mags and Maxxie. He was so obviously bored out of his mind Annie felt quite sorry for him.<p>

Suddenly the upbeat dance music that only Capitol citizens were dancing to suddenly slowed down to instrumental classical music. Many partnered up and began swaying, holding each other closely. Annie thought about the way her father would hold her mother when he sang to her in the kitchen. It often happened after Annie would go to sleep, she would hear his deep silky voice singing words of love. After peeking into the kitchen, they would be there, pressed against each other, hands clasped, and heads on each other's shoulders. No one here was dancing with that passion. Everyone was swaying and chatting, Annie almost felt robbed. Such beautiful music deserved more appreciation.

"Maxxie, do you wanna go dance with me?" she asked suddenly.

"What?!" he asked incredulously.

"Like that," she pointed to a couple swaying. "Come on, it'll be fun. Let's take our shoes off."

Annie kicked hers off, and the promise of no shoes was enough to make any twelve year old boy agree to something like that. Before Mags could stop them, their shoes were off and they were running to the dance floor. So Annie didn't have to scrunch down, Maxxie stood on Annie's toes and held onto her hands. They swayed back and forth, Annie picking up both their feet and setting them down in no rhythm in particular. Maxxie laughed and started having more fun.

Annie spotted Finnick watching them from where he was dancing with a different Capitol woman, while the one Annie had met sat enraged on the sidelines. Finnick laughed at their goofiness and pointed it out to the woman he was dancing with. She put a hand over her heart and made a perfect 'o' with her mouth, and although Annie didn't hear the noise that came out of her mouth, she was almost positive it was high pitched.

The night continued like that, Capitol women began dancing with Maxxie the way Annie had. And Annie danced with a couple of Capitol men after putting her shoes back on. At one point in the night, most of the crowd had funneled out of the ballroom and it was just District 4's tributes and a couple of Capitolites. Even Finnick had left with the Capitol lady.

Mags eventually, herded Annie and Maxxie out of the ballroom, much to the dismay of the remaining Capitolites.

* * *

><p>As comfortable and inviting the bed had looked when she first found her room, Annie could not for the life of her, fall asleep.<p>

The clock next to her bedside read 4:09. She groaned softly, setting her bare feet down on the tile floor. And then padding over to the window where the artificial river shimmered in the still illuminated city.

Finnick was right, seeing water _was_ comforting. Even if it was some plastic Capitol version of the real thing.

After a couple of minutes, Annie decided to try out the couch in the living room instead. She just assumed she was more used to stiff surfaces than really nice Capitol beds. She would have to work her way up to the one in her room.

Just as she settled into the leather with a blanket and pillow she brought from her bed, the door to the suite creaked open.

She sat up and in the darkness and made out the shape of a familiar looking nineteen year old.

"Finnick?" she croaked. Her voice was hoarse from not using it. "Is that you?"

"Shit." She heard him tripping all over the place in the darkness. "Did I wake you? Oh, shit." More ruckus.

"No, I'm having trouble sleeping," she explained. After the sound of glass shattering, she said "You can turn on the lights if you have to."

"Nah that's fine," Finnick's black figure found its way to the armchair across from the couch and slouched down. He threw his jacket onto the coffee table at his feet.

He dug his hands into his pockets and fished out what Annie assumed were cufflinks, it took her nearly an hour to figure out how to help Maxxie out of his tuxedo and along the way learned a lot about the garment. "If you don't mind me asking," Annie shifted into a sitting position, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "How come you're getting in so late?"

Finnick's shadow stiffened in the darkness. "It's work."

Annie frowned. "Until four thirty in the morning? Isn't that-"

"Speaking of how late it is," Finnick sat up, "It's really bad for you to be up right now. You have your first training session in five hours."

Annie felt uneasy, as if Finnick was acting strange towards her, she scooted further up the sofa, towards him, and he recoiled a bit. "Why are you-"

"You should sleep, Annie." He stood abruptly. "You only have so many more hours of sleep before you're in the arena."

With that, he sidestepped the armchair and made his way towards his room. After a couple of minutes of contemplation, Annie realized it was the first time he had mentioned the games as a serious point in the future.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and lied back down on the couch. She tried sleeping again, but it never came. She lied there, staring at the ceiling until the light from the city became light from the sunrise.

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><p><strong>Please tell me what you think! Drop me a review or a PM!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This is my thickest chapter yet, things are finally starting to pick up! There's going to start being a lot more Annie/Finnick interactions to come, starting with this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! More to come soon!**

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><p>Mags got up around 6:30, and told Annie to shower. She seemed to sympathize with Annie, knowing well that it was nerves keeping her up.<p>

On her way to her room, she could hear soft snores coming from Finnick's room. Annie giggled to herself, she never expected him to be someone who snored. She guessed he'd be asleep for a majority of the day since he had got back so late.

She took her time in the shower, washing her hair twice and conditioning it three more times after that. After rubbing herself down with a bar of soap with the Capitol Seal carved into it, she realized she was stalling.

Truthfully, it would be the first time she would be among this year's tributes, and while, yes, they weren't killing each other just yet, Annie was almost positive she'd be eaten by then. She hadn't talked strategy at all with Finnick and Mags yet, and she'd be in the arena in less than a week. Then again, a lifetime wouldn't be able to prepare someone for the games.

She stepped out of the shower, got dressed, and headed back to the living room.

Her fingers combed through her wet hair when she seemed to accidentally walk in on Finnick and Mags in a deep conversation.

Finnick was still wearing his crisp white button-down from the night before, his muscular physique stretching the stitching to its limit. A couple buttons were unbuttoned at the top, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing the muscle and veins in his forearms. Dotted along his neck were small, fading bruises; Annie realized they were love bites, or hickeys as Stef had said they were called nowadays.

He went quiet when he realized her presence and caught her eyes in his. Annie took a step back in surprise, "Sorry if I'm interrupting," she said nervously, "Do you think I should go wake Maxxie?"

Mags turned and gave her a genuine smile, "That's a good idea; you go ahead and do that. Tell him those pancakes we discussed are waiting for him."

Annie smiled and turned, not before accidentally locking eyes with Finnick again. His eyes looked sad and tired and something else Annie simply couldn't put her finger on. He had large purplish bags under his eyes. Her heart hurt a bit, she wished he would go back to bed. Whatever he needed to tell Mags could probably wait, right?

She went down the hall to Maxxie's room, Finnick and Mags' quiet whispered conversation began again.

She entered and began drawing a bath in a claw foot tub identical to the one in her bathroom. She filled it with the bath salt they had in the cupboard. The label said it smelled like the ocean. She didn't know how a Capitolite was supposed to know what the ocean smelled like, but she was going with it anyway.

Maxxie was so small in his bed, that it looked as if no one was even in the bed. He was a simple clump of blankets. The only indication of a little boy asleep in the bed, was his left foot peeking out of side of the bed. He had slept horizontal, which was so typical of little boys to do. Annie smiled, and tickled his foot.

The foot immediately retracted into the covers. Maxxie stirred and squirmed. "Hey," Annie pulled the covers off of his head so she could see him. "Its time to get up."

The mass of blankets let out a little groan and turned over again.

"Come on," Annie coaxed. "After you have a bath, Mags said there would be pancakes for breakfast."

Maxxie's blond tuft of hair shot out from under the covers, "The green chocolate chip ones?"

Annie furrowed her brows, "Err… if that's what you told her you wanted."

The boy flew out of bed and into the bathroom. "I'll be done in five minutes!" he called, locking the door.

"Don't rush!" Annie called, "And use soap this time please!" She wished that last part didn't have to be emphasized.

Annie went back into the living room, only to find that Finnick was gone, and Cintia was sitting in his place. She was wearing a dark green body-con dress and bright purple heels. Her hair was in bright purple cornrows. Annie shuddered, nothing could have prepared her for the extremes these people went for when it came to fashion.

"Annie, darling! What happened to you? Why are you wearing that?" She motioned to Annie's black leggings and pink sweater. "Oh never mind that, it'll do until they put you into your training clothes, I suppose. I feel as if I haven't seen you in _ages_! Where have I been? Why I've been talking you up to my friends, but what do I know? This morning I see it wasn't even necessary to do! Look at you!" she motioned to the newspaper on the coffee table.

Annie's head spun as she tried to keep up with all of the questions Cintia had just asked and answered herself. "What do you mean?"

"Why, the district four tributes are the talk of the Capitol!" Cintia gushed. "Just look, they mention you in the article about the ball last night; which I am _so_ upset I missed, by the way. But you know, busy busy busy! Especially this time of season I just have so much going on oh dear how do I do it!" She laughed to herself.

The newspaper- Annie was surprised the Capitol even had something like this- was much more like a magazine. It was full of gossip and celebrities; it didn't mention the districts at all, or any politics or economics. Annie frowned, if they didn't broadcast the misdemeanors going on in the districts, how in the world would there ever be any true fairness and order? It was almost as if the Capitol was quarantined from the rest of Panem.

"It's cute," Annie smiled shyly and set the magazine- newspaper- back on the table.

"That's it? Why it's more than cute, its-"

"Where's breakfast?" Maxxie appeared in the hallway. "I'm hungry."

"Right through there, sweetheart." Cintia pursed her lips and crossed her legs, obviously unenthused by her tributes' disinterest in the Capitol.

Maxxie walked with Annie to the dining table where Mags was waiting for them.

"Sorry we kept you waiting," Annie said, sitting down. "We got a little caught up with-"

"Trust me," Mags smiled. "I know, you don't have to explain it."

Annie laughed.

"Can you pass the plates this way please?" Maxxie interjected impatiently.

"Give me your plate," Annie held out her left hand. "I'll serve you, since we seem to have a problem with _portion control_, Maxwell." She looked at him accusingly.

Maxxie gave a bashful smile and passed over his plate. Annie served two small breakfast sausages, one large pancake, a scoop of eggs, a scoop of fruit, and poured him milk and orange juice.

"This isn't enough," Maxxie scrunched his nose when she set the plate down.

"Okay, fair enough." Annie served herself a pancake and fruit and poured herself the same drinks. "How about this, you finish that plate, and if you're still full, I'll serve you some more. Because the food isn't going to get up and walk away from the table, and you can always get more."

Mags chuckled at their little interactions. Annie was such a mother.

"Where's Finnick?" Maxxie asked, well into half of his pancake.

"He's still sleeping," Mags said softly. "He was up even later than us, talking to sponsors for you two."

Annie bit her lip, she knew the real reason. "Why do you need Finnick, Maxxie?" she nudged him on the shoulder. "Am I not good enough for you?"

Maxxie ignored her and continued eating his pancake quickly. "What are we doing today?"

"Well," Mags began. "You are starting your training today. We should actually get going soon to get to that; your first session is at nine thirty."

Max was losing speed on his speed eating; Annie knew he was almost done.

"The next couple of days will be training, mostly. And then you will get your final assessment. After that, you have interviews and maybe one or two more training sessions." Mags concluded.

Something Annie had noticed was that Mags and Finnick had never directly discussed the games. Not since their first night in the train, at least. Everything they had been doing in the Capitol ended with them going to the games. All the plans were made with the end destination being the Hunger Games. Annie's stomach flipped and she suddenly felt nauseous.

Max pushed his plate back just in time. He ate around the fruit and didn't manage to finish his pancake. "What did I tell you?" Annie said triumphantly. "You wouldn't be able to finish three pancakes like I know you were going to try to give yourself."

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but the sound of clicking heels and uncomfortable fabric rubbing against itself broke him off. "It's time to go!" Cintia appeared in from the living room. "Your first official training! Exciting! Busy! Let's not be late!"

She turned to escort them to the door, occasionally grabbing onto the nearest piece of furniture to balance herself on her sky high heels.

* * *

><p>Finnick woke up at around 4pm to an empty suite. Annie and Max should be returning from their training soon.<p>

His head pounded, he didn't even remember drinking that much the previous night before, but really who knows what they could have slipped him in the few he had.

He started the shower and shrugged his dress pants and shirt off, leaving them in a bunched up pile on the floor.

The water was scalding. Waves of hot vapor swirled up and around him.

Finnick remembered small bits of the night before. He remembered how beautiful Annie looked, how he would have given anything in that moment to be enjoying the night with her instead of pushing through it with his clients. Then again, most of his clients were sponsors who, between talking about themselves and talking about him, told him time and time again that his tributes this year were, despite their lack in physical attributes, 'absolutely adorable' or 'wickedly witty' or 'loveably lovely'. Alliterations were quite in nowadays, and it drove him to his wits end. Finnick could have sworn, with the amount he grinded his teeth last night, he would need replacements.

He also recalled Annie telling a story that managed to have basically every Capitolite swoon over her. As if they hadn't already before, if Finnick heard the term 'honey thighs' get thrown into a conversation one more time, he wasn't sure _what_ he would do.

Finnick stopped the water and got out of the shower. He dried himself off with a towel and then headed to his closet. On his way, he saw four more messages from clients left on his bedside table. He groaned. He would probably have to ask Snow to go easy on him; he didn't want to miss anything while Annie and Maxxie trained.

Which was strange, because in his four years of mentoring he had never truly cared that much about the fate of his tributes. Usually what ended up happening was the district 4 mentors rotated. Since 4 was a career district, there usually were lots of victors, and so there was a rotation organized between the victors. Their system failed after about two years, and Mags and Finnick had taken the weight of mentoring permanently, whilst the other victors used the games as a solid month of an open bar.

This system left little time to dabble on whether or not the tributes were all that much useful and likeable. There hadn't been a volunteer in 4 since two games after Finnick's. The girl who volunteered lost, of course. There never is much of a chance for anyone, when you put it into perspective.

Somewhere along the way, Finnick had started to care about Annie and Maxxie's fates. They were good kids, they were better than good, they were amazing. They didn't deserve any of it. Finnick could list off so many victors that didn't deserve winning, victors that flaunted their power and had no remorse from their experience.

He didn't want them to go down. Especially Annie. Finnick realized that aside from Mags, he had found a true friend in Annie. Maybe even his only friend.

It was different with the victors; he wouldn't necessarily call those people his friends. In truth, the victors were like a dysfunctional family that just tried to hold themselves together in the best way possible. That way just so happened to be antagonizing the shit out of each other, Finnick learned that very quickly. But family and friends were different, and having a friend for the past couple of days had been bliss.

He needed to get her out, it wasn't just want anymore. He couldn't tell the other victors how he felt, they'd think it was about district pride. And he _definitely_ couldn't tell Mags. Mags would smile knowingly, and act like she knew something he didn't. She would think he was in love with Annie, or something along those lines.

Finnick got dressed quickly and shook the water out of his hair like a dog. Despite people swooning over his curls, they weren't anything special, because his hair dried like that. Before the games and exposure to the Capitol, he never even combed his hair. But that just might've been an extension of being a fourteen year old boy.

Annie, Maxxie, and Mags were sitting on the couch in the living room. Maxxie was eating an apple happily. Annie was chewing on her lip, making it bright red and irritated. She was staring off into space, deep in thought. Mags was watching the tv intently while Caesar Flickerman went on about the logistics and statistics of training.

"Well there you are!" Finnick jumped as Cintia appeared, it seemed, out of thin air. "We were waiting for you to join us, come, sit."

She led him to the armchair by his hand and pressed down on his shoulders, as if he wouldn't have been able to sit down without specific instruction.

Annie looked up from the ground and met eyes with him, he gave her a crooked smile, to which she looked away nervously.

Maxxie, it seemed, hadn't even noticed his arrival.

"Alright, now that we're all here together," Cintia reached for the remote and turned off the television. Earning one of the dirtiest looks Finnick had ever seen Mags pull, which essentially meant it was hardly a glare, or even menacing in the least. "We should talk about how your first training session went."

" 'wus good!" Maxxie said between bites.

Cintia, the busybody she was, refused to sit, and walked around the room tilting frames mere inches to be straight and organizing the magazines left on the table for show. "Anything else? How were the other tributes? Did you make any alliances? Talk to anyone?"

Annie glanced at Finnick quickly and then looked down at the floor again. "I never… those kids from two are so big…"

"They usually are!" Cintia's comment was so condescending, but her chipper tone made it come off as an agreement. "Did you talk to them?"

Annie stared at Cintia as if she had grown six heads in the span of a minute.

"Nah, we made friends with Maiz and Kemp and Jac!" Maxxie proclaimed proudly. "They're from 11 and 7, they all know a whole lot about trees."

Cintia grimaced, "Err… you two Annie?"

"Um… I hung out with them a bit…" Annie muttered, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. "They really are smart, they are teaching us how to climb trees."

Cintia's face was one of utter disgust, "Climb… trees?"

"That's going to be really useful," Finnick butted in. Cintia looked at him and flared her nostrils. "I'm serious, Cintia!" he laughed. "District four doesn't have any climbing trees, and the first thing you should do, if you don't plan on fighting, is getting up in the trees, if there are any of course. There usually will be good climbing trees _somewhere_ in the arena. When I was in the arena, I was constantly on my feet. If I had known how to climb trees, I'm sure my games would have been over a lot faster."

He looked at Cintia with a smirk. "Oh, alright." She said softly.

Annie was still staring at the ground intently.

"Annie talked to some kids from three too, right, Annie?" Maxxie cut in.

She nodded. "They're really smart." She finally raised her head to look at Mags and Cintia. Finnick felt a bit offended. "They want to beat the game with logics, not brute strength. Which I thought was pretty cool."

"District three?" Cintia's puckered face was back again. "That's… interesting."

"And the girl from seven, not Jac." Annie added. "She seems really nice, she's got a lot of strength, and I think the Careers are into her."

"You think she can get you in?" Mags asked optimistically.

Annie was quiet for a moment. "Maybe," she said it under her breath. "I think I have to talk to her a little more. I taught her how to tie basic knots and make fish hooks, and she helped me with axe wielding." She widened her eyes a bit. "Not my thing."

"Oh is that when you threw-" Maxxie began.

"Yeah," Annie interrupted. "We don't need to discuss it.

Maxxie collapsed in a fit of laughter. "That was hilarious! Everybody was laughing, even the people in the restaurant!"

"The restaurant…" Mags repeated. "Does he mean the game makers?"

Annie nodded ashamedly.

"What did you do, exactly?" Finnick was smiling from Maxxie's laughter.

This time, Annie looked up to make eye contact. "I threw an axe at a target, and it landed at my feet."

Finnick had to bite his hand to keep from laughing.

Annie was smirking. "Yeah, alright, laugh." She held up her arm and flexed, the amount of muscle that held onto her bone was laughable. "We all knew these guns would be a problem."

Finnick and Maxxie doubled over simultaneously, while Mags was smiling at Annie. "If fighting isn't your thing, we can always work out what we discussed before."

Annie was going to be a medic for the careers, and she was going to get into the career pack by making friends with the burly district 7 girl. For some reason, Finnick believed this plan was bound to be fool proof, sarcasm intended, of course.

But that's what the games were about usually, taking giant leaps of faith. If Finnick hadn't gotten that trident, it would've been over. Who knows what would've gone down if the sponsors hadn't pulled through.

"So tomorrow," Finnick began. "The plan is, wake up early, go to training, talk to seven some more." He pointed to Annie. "Learn how to climb trees," he pointed another finger at Maxxie. "And of course, make friends, because that's the most important part of the games."

Cintia scoffed, "Making friends? Where is your head, Finnick?" She laughed and threw her head back. "Now that's one of the funnier things you've said."

They all stared at Cintia with straight faces. Then again, it was notorious for Capitolites to be unaware of sardonicism.

* * *

><p>The next day of training flew by. Annie had gained a solid friendship with the girl from 7, Gemma. She was eighteen and also wanted to protect her younger district partner, Jac. "I just want him to get as far as he can," she explained. "He's such a sweet kid."<p>

Annie talked to the kids from 3 again. Their names were Photus and Dani. Both sixteen with the same ashen skin and dark features. They taught Annie how to create a lithium polymer battery out of only flashlight batteries and a knife. She was lost by step three, but thanked them when they were done anyway. "They're highly flammable," Photus said with a smile. He looked at Dani, who was nodding enthusiastically in agreement. Annie taught them the small skills she knew, more knot tying and fish hooks- to which they were extremely grateful for- Annie didn't know why.

She moved onto watching the careers for a while, never really approaching them, just watching from afar. Every time one of them would find her watching, she would look away quickly and pretend she was walking to another station.

The careers were deadly, to say the least. The two girls could throw knives without missing a beat. Each knife closer to the target than the last. They were both the same height, the girl from 1 had short black hair that ended at the bottom of her neck. She was quite beautiful, too. Her face had a certain softness to it that made her seem very beautiful; this fact was negated by her icy eyes. They were a brilliant shade of light blue that could've cut diamonds. The girl from 2 had a stronger build that the girl from 1. She was more muscular; while the girl from 1 was built for speed, she was built for combat. She was shorter than Annie, and obviously younger too. Her face was young and childish, unlike the girl from 1 she couldn't look menacing if she tried. Her hair was long and brown in two braids.

The boys looked almost like the male counterparts of their district partners. The boy from 1 had short brown hair and a chiseled jaw. His eyes were dark green, and he was muscular, but very slim. He was taller than the rest, and seemed like he'd be a good runner. He was throwing spears and hitting the target every time. The boy from 2 was so muscular; it looked as if he could pick up the rest of the Careers no problem and carry them around. His hair was a brassy brown, it was shaggy and unkempt. Annie imagined him scaring his prep team off when they tried to tame it.

Finally, the district 1 male noticed her staring and ushered her over, much to the surprise of his comrades. "What's your name?" he asked. Annie knew this sultry purr all too well, a certain someone used that same tone to get whatever his golden curled head wanted. District 1 guy was trying to put the moves on her.

Of course, Annie didn't realize this until later. "I'm Annie, district 4." On day two, she realized that if she didn't say her district, no one would ever remember her.

"Hmm," he looked her over. "Four's careers, isn't it? How come you're not with us?"

The girls behind him snorted, and the district 2 boy crossed his arms over his chest, making his enormous muscles bulge. Annie gulped. "I was, uh… just admiring your form." She explained. "I think I'm already running with a crowd…" she looked over at Photus and Dani, creating electrical sparks from hooking up their battery to a knife and cutting the table with it. Maxxie was getting his face painted by Gemma along with Jac, Maiz, and Kemp.

"Huh…" District 1 hummed. "Menacing."

"I just…" Annie started. "I have a hard time throwing, you know? In four, when you fish in shallow water, you sort of just stab. I've never thrown spears before."

One of the girls behind him opened her mouth to say something, but 1 beat her to the chase. "I can help you with that," he smirked. "Do you want me to teach you?"

The other careers groaned and dissipated, going to different stations and scaring off the tributes stationed at them.

"Uh… sure, that's really nice of you." Annie smiled politely.

_See, Finnick._ Annie thought to herself. _Maybe I have a chance to get into the careers on my own._

"Well, first thing you want to do is," He grabbed a spear off the rack and handed it to Annie. "You want to stand in front of your target with the foot of the hand you're throwing with, out. And you want to center your hips, like this," She suddenly felt his breath on her neck and hands on her waist. "Move your shoulders here…" he touched her body more as he 'positioned' it. "And let it fly."

Annie threw the spear, and it hit the target. Not anywhere close to the key areas, but it still hit. "Wow! I did it!"

He didn't look all too impressed, but when he saw her celebrating, he smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "That was okay, think you can do better?"

She had thrown around what felt like fifty spears, when training was over. "I never caught your name, by the way." Annie said as the District 1 guy walked with her out of the training room. "Sorry."

"I'm Gleam," he said triumphantly.

Annie held in her laughter, she forgot about how ridiculous the District 1 names were. "Well thanks for the help! I'll see you again tomorrow!"

She walked over to where Mags, Cintia, and Finnick were waiting and waved goodbye. Gleam waved and winked. Annie felt her face get hot.

"My my," Cintia crooned. "Who is _that_, Miss Annie?"

"His name is Gleam, he's from District 1."

Finnick's mouth was drawn in a straight line, as if it were glued shut. He crossed his arms over his chest and seemed to puff his chest out as the rest of the tributes flooded out of the training center to meet their mentors.

The rest of the career pack funneled out as a group and shot Annie a sickening glare. Annie felt her blood curdle at the mere eye contact. What was it going to be like when they were running at her with sharp objects? She'd drop dead from a heart attack before they'd even have a chance to touch her, probably.

Gemma walked out, followed by Jac. She had crude trees painted onto her face with berry pigment. It was quite obvious that a thirteen year old boy had done it.

Maxxie was walking out with Maiz and Kemp, not even realizing that he had joined District 11's mentors, he was still in deep conversation with Kemp. He had drawings all over his face too.

Annie walked over and tapped his shoulder, he whirled around quickly and confusion filled his eyes.

"I never knew you were from District eleven!" Annie exclaimed. "You should have told me!"

Maiz and Kemp giggled as Maxxie stomped away, obviously embarrassed by her in front of his new friends.

Annie waved goodbye to Maiz and Kemp and shot them a knowing wink. Maxxie embarrassed himself easily as it was; he was a pretty goofy kid.

"…and this one's a spider, and this is a flower… I think Gemma painted it… I told her to do something cool but she did a flower!" Maxxie was pointing to his left cheek, using a tone one would use to explain quantum physics to a five year old.

Mags was nodding thoughtfully, while Finnick was staring at Annie. "You talked to the Careers?" he asked. "On your own?"

"Oh yeah," Maxxie dropped his hand from his face. "She really got to know them!" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Annie asked. "What the heck is that? Stop!"

Maxxie continued to wiggle his eyebrows, making himself laugh (and Annie a little).

"But really, Annie. What happened?" Finnick inquired. Mags was listening, Cintia was off talking to another escort.

"He just helped me with throwing… things." Annie explained. "There was no talk off alliancing."

"He… helped you throw thing…?" Finnick raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, like proper form and-"

"Goddammit, Annie!" Finnick huffed. "He was just trying to feel you up!"

Annie took a step back, surprised by his aggression. "No… he really did help me, I threw a spear and it hit the target and-"

Finnick sighed and rubbed his temples. "Listen to me; was he standing behind you, like positioning your body for you, breathing down your neck, that kind of stuff?"

"Yeah but-" Annie began, but saw his point.

"That's like, the stereotypical way of feeling up a girl." Finnick closed his eyes, he seemed really annoyed. "It's basically lesson one in the book of flirting."

"Alright, but it really did help." Annie tried defending her stupidity, but saw no way around it.

Mags swooped in to rescue her, "At least you talked to the careers, you know what they're like now. What do you think?"

"Well," Annie kicked her shoe around on the floor. "I _did_ think he was nice, but now I just think he's kind of creepy and gross… oh and arrogant."

"Very arrogant," Maxxie agreed.

"What does arrogant mean, Maxxie?" Annie asked, turning towards the boy.

He struggled for a moment, "You just used it, you know what it means."

"Yeah, well so did you, so why don't you just tell me?" She asked in the most sincere voice she could.

"Hey," Finnick said angrily. "Both of you need to stop wasting time, and focus. So stop kidding around. That means you need to stop painting faces and flirt and start trying to figure out how you're gonna get out of this." His fists were curled at his sides.

Annie recoiled. He had never gotten angry with her before, and now it looked as if his eyes were ablaze. She looked down at her shoes, not saying a word.

Mags placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Finnick walked away when she was done.

"I'm sorry, he's just stressed out." Mags explained. "You know he's got mentoring, and work, and he really cares about the two of you." She said softly. "It's upsetting to him that today was almost a waste of a training day, but I don't think it was." She smiled at the two of them. "You're developing allies and seeing who you're up against, which is really good."

Maxxie looked up excitedly. He was like a puppy dog, praise made him giddy and punishment made him so utterly dejected.

"Tonight we should have private discussions about your strategies." Mags went on. "I think the last training day should be trying out some of the weapons you wouldn't normally try. Because you might actually be good at them. We'll talk it over tonight."

Maxxie seemed excited, but Annie gulped. Finnick had seemed very angry, especially with her. The idea of being evaluated by him seemed a bit intimidating.

Mags left to do go speak with other mentors or do something mentor-like, Annie wasn't sure. She and Maxxie were picked up by their prep teams and led off to change.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it! Comment and favorite if you did!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hi again! Thanks for all the feedback! I really appreciate it. I've decided to change the name of the story, because one, it isn't super fitting, and two, I have a better one in mind. It's because of the song Wheel of Fortune by The Virgins, which I listened to when I first thought of this story. I also wanted to change the summary, since its really bad. Maybe some of you could help me brainstorm! Leave an idea for what to put as my summary in the review section, thanks a bunch! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>They were changed into comfortable clothes- or at least comfortable by Capitol standards- a silk slip dress for Annie and a polo and khakis for Maxxie. Although Annie's dress wasn't tight, it had very thin straps and it was very short. Almost as if Bregje was still trying to pull off the whole sexy thing on her.<p>

They put a light amount of makeup on Annie- as much as they were allowed. Because when Iva walked into the room after helping dress Maxxie, she took the eyeliner pencil and lipstick from Bregje and Lais' hands.

Peacekeepers led them back to their suite, and once they were inside. Cintia ushered them over to the dinner table for supper.

"Well, you two look quite lovely tonight." She admired.

Finnick's eyes flickered up from his plate and gazed at Annie. She felt his eyes rove over her body and stop at the length of her dress. His hand that was resting on the table clenched into a fist and he looked away quickly.

Annie pulled her dress down as much as she could.

"Why don't you two sit down," Mags offered.

They did so. Maxxie was hyper in his seat; he had been talking about eating for what seemed like all day. His stomach grumbled when the avoxes came by and served the food. Annie's stomach however, felt sick.

They followed the drill, Maxxie giving Annie his plate and Annie making sure he got his proper nutrients. Basically, she controlled the amount of bread and steak he ate and made sure he ate at least _some _of his greens.

Cintia was making an effort to moderate the conversation. She talked about what the Capitol was saying about the tributes, and how 4 had definitely caught their attention.

"They think she's mysterious." Cintia stabbed a bite of filet mignon and smirked. "A mixture of sexy and innocent and cute all rolled into one."

Finnick frowned, looking at Annie but never meeting her eyes.

"Well, I guess that could be good," Mags tried. "At least people are talking about her."

"Annie," Finnick snapped. "Eat something substantial."

She stared at him incredulously. She had served herself a small scoop of mashed potatoes and green beans, anything else, she felt would make her feel sick.

"I think what Finnick means, Annie," Mags pulled her attention over to her. "Is that you should probably eat as much as you can before the games. It's not good to be malnourished before you go."

"I'm just not feeling well," Annie mumbled, pushing the potatoes around on her plate. "My stomach is bothering me a little."

"Oh dear!" Cintia flew to Annie's side, pressing her hand to her forehead. "Are you sick? Should we take you to the medic? Oh no, do you think it might be parasitic? An infection? Oh this is just awful!"

"I think," Annie tried to make out during Cintia's incessant babbling. "I just need a good nights' sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping lately."

"Of course," Cintia laughed. "But really, do you need to be taken to the medic? Better safe than sorry!"

Annie shook her head. "Its fine, Cintia. I'm alright. Really."

The rest of the dinner was unsurprisingly tense. Finnick kept stabbing his food with his fork and Cintia kept on talking as if nothing was wrong. She never faltered though, even when Finnick shot her a look when she mentioned Annie 'getting to know' the Careers.

"Well, that was just delicious." Cintia pushed her dessert plate away. She had eaten a bite out of her strawberry cake. She often talked about maintaining her figure. Annie hadn't heard that saying in a _long_ time. Maybe the girls at school said it, she wouldn't know since she wasn't really friends with them.

"Goodnight, you two." Cintia smiled, standing up. "You've got meetings with Mags and Finnick now. I'll just go to bed then, rest well!" She teetered and stumbled on her heels slightly as she maneuvered around the chair. After a slight wave and smile she made her way down the hallway to the rooms.

"We'll talk to Annie first." Finnick said with his jaw clenched. "I'll go get you when we're ready to talk to you, okay Max?"

Maxxie noticed the terseness in Finnick's voice and hopped out of his chair quickly. Without a word he receded to his room.

"Finnick, he really looks up to you, when you talk to him like that he gets-"

"Don't." Finnick interrupted her. "You have to stop worrying about others, you have to start worrying about yourself from now on."

Annie's eyes widened in surprise, "But… I promised Maxxie's mother-"

"That what," Finnick scoffed. "You'd get him out alive? Like that's going to happen, Annie. Use your head. He's small, he's naïve. As if that's going to happen. If you want district four to have a victor this year, you know good and well its going to be you. You're the only one who has a chance."

Annie furrowed her brow, "You know what?" she said angrily. "I don't like the way you're speaking to me-"

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child!" Finnick yelled, banging his fists on the table. "That's not going to work with me, I'm not a kid! Not everyone needs to be taken care of, Annie!"

"I can't!" Annie screamed back. "I can't not take care of others, I'm just used to it. And as for Maxxie, I'm not going to back out on a promise I made. Maybe he's smaller and has less of a chance, but back home he's got way more than I do. _He's _the one with a family to get back to. _He's _the one who's enrolled in school._ He's _the one who's going to go on to have a good life with a good job and money and kids who'll have just as much opportunities as he does. _That's _why he needs to get out!"

"Who says you don't have those same chances, Annie?" Mags asked quietly. "I want both of you out just as much as you do, but really, why can't you want to get out too?"

"I don't have anything," Annie said quietly. "Life in district four will go back to normal if I'm gone. Maxxie has people that love him."

Finnick's temper lagged and fizzled. He unclenched his fists and stared at Annie with a strange expression.

"I think you've got lots of people that care about you, Annie. You shouldn't think like that. Your life is just as important and worth something as anyone else in the arena." Mags reached for Annie's hand over the table and patted it softly. "You can protect Maxxie if you want, and you can keep him alive over yourself, but just know that. Alright?"

Annie frowned and stared at her lap. "I've never done this before, you both know that. So I don't really know _what _to do. I haven't been using the training room to really train; I know nothing I do in the three days they give us to train will get me physically able to bring someone down in there, that's why I don't try." She admitted. "And Maxxie knows that too. As much as you guys write him off as being too young to understand what's going on… he's smart."

"We never wrote him off-" Finnick began, but Annie cut him off.

"When I'm in the arena, I'm going to have to depend on others. I can't do anything except take care of on others, so I'm going to have to have a leap of faith. I'm trying to make friends. I'm trying to make people trust me. That's all I really know how to do," she admitted.

"You're getting people to flirt with you." Finnick snarled.

"I didn't know I was getting hit on!" Annie defended. "No one's ever done that to me before!"

Finnick scoffed. "As if, you're gorgeous and approachable. Don't tell me no ones ever tried anything on you."

Annie turned a brilliant shade of red, and once Finnick realized the weight of his words, he did too.

"I think you should try to go to bed now, Annie." Mags cleared her throat. It made both Annie and Finnick jump, they had forgotten she was there. "Since you're going to be exhausted pretty soon."

Annie nodded and stood up. She said goodbye to the both of them quickly and curtly, and then rushed to her room. Moments later Maxxie appeared and sat down at the table. "Annie said you guys wanted to talk to me," he proclaimed. His hair was messy and slept on. "So I'm here!"

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><p>Mags knocked on Annie's door at around 11:00. Annie answered it and let her inside without a word.<p>

She had been up staring at the river and reading, remembering the shimmering of the moon and the stars in the ocean at night in 4. In the capitol, the only thing that made the river shimmer was the bright lights from the buildings. There were no stars in the sky, and the moon just looked like a freckle on the otherwise blank sky. This was attributed to the lights from the buildings; Annie had read in one of her astronomy books. Since the city was too bright, the stars couldn't be seen. The same way if one shined a flashlight in their face, they wouldn't be able to see anything except for the whiteness of the light.

"You realize how peaceful and quiet four is, don't you?" Mags said thoughtfully as they stepped out onto Annie's balcony.

They pulled blankets over themselves and sat down at the small table located outside. The thermometer hanging from the awning read 55 degrees.

"Four does seem pretty noisy when you're there," Annie smiled to herself. "My house used to be right by the docks, the buoy with the bell a mile out used to lull me to sleep."

"It's hard to fall asleep with all the chatter here, isn't it?" Mags admitted. As if on cue, a couple of Capitolites in the building across entered their balcony. Exposing the loudness of the party they were attending, they all lit up cigarettes and chattered noisily.

"I'd never be able to get used to it." Annie decided.

Mags chuckled to herself. "Cintia says that every year when she steps off the train."

Annie tucked her knees into her chest and wrapped her blanket around them. Her toes peeked out from underneath the quilt. "I'm sorry about today, Mags."

"It's not your fault, sweetheart." She said softly, "Finnick can be a big baby sometimes."

"But if I had just known-"

Mags shook her head and Annie stopped talking. "It's Finnick. He's just jealous."

"Jealous of me?" Annie asked incredulously. Did he want to go back into the games or something? Of the attention she was getting?

This warranted a hearty laugh from Mags, the loudest noise Annie had ever heard from her. "Not jealous of _you_!" she laughed again. "He really cares about you, he gets jealous whenever someone takes advantage of you." Mags explained. "He told me that he sees you as a good friend. He doesn't have many of those… now that I think about it, I'm really one of his only friends."

Annie's heart was beating quickly. Finnick Odair, light of Panem, cared _this_ much about her. This must've been why he got so upset when Gleam took advantage of her, and that look he gave her at the ball when she walked away from him and the Capitol woman, and why he was defending his strange actions to her- he didn't want her to think badly of him.

"His friend?" Now that she thought about it, they were pretty close. It was easy to talk to Finnick, of course, when he was being his regular self.

Mags nodded, "It took me a long time to figure that kid out," she said thoughtfully. "It's pretty impressive you managed to get him to open up to you in such a short amount of time."

Annie immediately brightened up, "I thought he hated me after today!"

Mags eyes widened and she shook her head profusely. "On the contrary, he's pulling his hair out worried that he upset you."

"Oh god," Annie stood abruptly. "Should I go apologize?"

Mags stood too. "No, let him go to you. You need to sleep anyway. Let him figure out his feelings first." She laughed a little. "Don't you think its kind of funny," They retreated into Annie's room and Annie got under the covers. Mags made her way over to the door. "That he can make anyone on earth fall in love with him, but he can't even figure it out for himself?"

She shut the door, and Annie had fallen asleep before she could even comprehend what Mags had just said.

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><p><strong>Short but sweet. I'll update soon!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: To the three people that actually are reading and like this story, thanks! This is for you.**

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><p>Training the next day was somewhat uneventful. Those who had formed alliances, stayed with those alliances. No one did much more training, although Annie chided Maxxie to stop goofing off and try a couple of weapons out like Mags and Finnick had said to. She moved with him station to station, watching how he did. Gleam met eyes with her and waved, sending her a wink too. She waved back, but was a bit perturbed by his wink, and so when she tried to smile it looked a bit more like a grimace.<p>

Gemma and Jac tagged along about halfway. At the station with the trident, Maxxie was undeniably best at it.

"Wow," Gemma exhaled as Maxxie threw the trident and it hit the target with ease. "Fingers crossed there'll be another Finnick Odair situation when we get to the arena."

"Can you teach me how to do that?!" Jac pleaded Maxxie as he reached for another trident. "I'll teach you how to throw an axe!"

"Sure!" Maxxie said excitedly.

Annie tapped Gemma's arm and motioned for her to follow her out of earshot.

"Look," she began. "I think you've got a really good chance of getting into the Career Pack. I saw you with the axe on the first day… actually… everyone did. They were staring. I think if you want to keep Jac alive, you should join them."

Gemma raised an eyebrow. "I'm not seeing your logic…" she trailed off. "And what about you and Maxxie?"

"I've got a plan." Annie promised. "Let's go over to the axe station, both of us. Throw a couple, make it good. Get their attention, and I'll explain from there."

Gemma and Annie walked away from the boys, who were practicing their stances holding the tridents and pretending to look like gods, and made their way over to the axe throwing station.

Gemma picked one up and fingered the handle a bit before twisting her wrist and examining the blade. "You might want to stand back," she told Annie, before reeling back and flinging the axe what seemed like 60feet into the target. It hit the head of the dummy.

She grabbed another off the shelf, and Annie stood by watching silently. Gemma needed only to flick her wrist, and the axe went flying again. The arms in her muscle rippled with the amount of strength she exerted in the throw. The axe lodged itself right in the heart of the dummy. Gemma smirked at Annie and Annie gave her a hidden thumbs up.

Gemma looked straight at the glaring Careers as she went to grab another axe off the shelf. Annie waved at Gleam again, this time, she was the one smirking.

After maybe four more axe throws, the Careers finally came over together. The boy from 2 leading them.

"You do a lot of damage with that thing," He stated the obvious. Annie recalled the Careers never being quite bright when it came to basic education. Their schooling was all about training for the games anyway. "Maybe you want to tag along with us when we get in there." He continued.

"At least in the beginning," The girl from his district went on. "Who knows what'll happen." She looked at Annie standing off the side and shot her a dirty look.

Annie tried to stay unaffected, but she looked away quickly.

"I don't know…" Gemma paused. She was twisting her axe around in her fingers like it was a baton. "Do you think there's room for my friend?" she motioned to Annie.

Annie's eyes grew wide, that hadn't been part of the plan. "I-"

The boy from 2 scoffed, "I don't think so."

"Then I don't know if I-" Gemma's sentence was cut off by a painful yelp that was distinctly belonging to Maxxie. Her eyes widened as she got ready to run over and see the ruckus.

"I'll go," Annie held out a hand to Gemma, begging her to stay where she was. "You should join them." She met eyes with Gemma, hoping she would be able to understand what she was saying through her eyes.

Gemma opened her mouth to say something, but obeyed.

Annie ran off to see what had happened. When she rounded the corner, she found Maxxie clutching his profusely bleeding face whimpering in pain. Jac was freaking out, pacing and asking the surrounding tributes for help, while they all watched unimpressed.

"Hey, hey, what happened?!" Annie bent down and pried Maxxie's hands from his face to see what had happened. There was a deep cut in his cheek that was leaking blood like a crack in a dam.

"He accidentally got cut on the trident blade," Jac explained. Maxxie's tears were flowing into the cut, making him sob in pain even harder.

"Oh god," Annie sucked in a breath. "Listen to me Jac, the kids from District 12 have Mockingjay pins that represent their district. Ask them for one of their pins, use please and thank you. Go now." Jac scampered off with her instructions and she redirected her attention to Maxxie. "Listen Max, you have to stop crying or else its gonna hurt even worse, okay? Here get on my back."

She bent down and Maxxie clung to the back of her neck. She hoisted him up and carried him over to the station where she had been building fish hooks. The blood from his cheek trickled down her neck and wet her shirt. She dropped him on the table, where he righted himself into a sitting position. Annie ripped a piece of her fabric from her shirt, the fabric was used for exercise, in other words it was highly absorbent for sweat. She dabbed his cheek enough that she could clearly find the source of the bleeding, the deep cut.

"Alright, it doesn't look too bad." She lied.

Annie grabbed some of the plastic fishing wire just as Jac ran back up to her with a pin. "They don't want it back." He said.

"Thanks Jac, you're super helpful!" Annie said thankfully.

She broke the needle off of the pin and wound the fishing wire around it. "This is going to hurt a little, Max. You have to be brave, okay?"

He nodded, his eyes still full of tears threatening to flow over.

She began sewing stitches into his cheek. She had to hold the fabric above the cut, or else Maxxie's tears would've kept coming into the wound. When she finished, she cut the wire with her teeth and tied it off neatly. She had only sewn stitches three or four times, and had always had to be creative with her materials, so she was pretty proud of herself. These were neat and tight.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked Maxxie. He was still crying, since she had to do it without a numbing agent. There was a certain plant from district 4 most families grew in their gardens she could use to help numbing, but there was no time or plants here and now.

She licked her fingers and began wiping the area around the stitches carefully to get rid of the drying blood.

"Come on," she helped Maxxie off of the table and took his hand in hers. He reached to touch the stitches, but she slapped his hand away. "You can't touch it, or it'll get infected."

He whimpered softly, but clenched her hand tighter.

Annie looked up to see the careers and Gemma watching her intently. Gemma said something and waved goodbye to them, a couple looked away from Annie, but the District 1 girl and District 2 boy were still staring.

"Did you just give him stitches?" Gemma half laughed half inquired as she walked up to them. "Everyone's impressed."

Annie nodded humbly. "The cut was pretty deep, and no one was helping…" She motioned to the spread out Peacekeepers and guards who had not blinked an eye at Maxxie's injury.

"Okay… well, I did what you said; I'm going to be in the career pack." Gemma crossed her arms over her chest insecurely. "What's your plan, though? Because I think they might off me in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping."

Annie smirked, "Okay, well it's like this…"

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><p>Finnick tapped his shoe nervously waiting for Annie and Maxxie to come out of the training center. All of the other tributes' faces were solemn, and the Careers seemed to have added a new member, Annie's friend from district 7. Just as Annie had (sort of) predicted.<p>

Annie and Maxxie exited last, a Peacekeeper was pushing Annie forward by her shoulder, and she was holding Maxxie's hand tightly. Maxxie was clutching his face, and there was a large amount of blood staining Annie's shoulder and neck. There was also a piece of her shirt ripped out at the bottom of it.

"What the hell happened?!" Finnick rushed forward quickly. He pushed the Peacekeeper off Annie aggressively. "What did you do? I could have you detained. What's your name?"

"Finnick," Annie touched his hand softly, and Finnick felt his heart speed up at the sound of his name rolling off her tongue. "It wasn't his fault. Come on," she led him back to where Mags was standing with a worried expression.

A couple of heads that had looked over at the sound of yelling looked away now that the chaos was over. "Maxxie cut himself with a blade, and so I had to take care of him." Annie explained. After I stitched him up, the game makers made the Peacekeeper escort us out. I'm not sure why, though."

"Are you two alright?" Cintia's capitol accent cut the tension as she walked up behind Mags and Finnick. "Oh dear, look at all that blood."

"It's nothing," Finnick said gruffly. "Everything is alright now."

"Well that's good to hear," Cintia chirped. "By the way, Finnick, I was told to give this to you." She passed him a blue note in a familiar stationary. It was one of his clients.

"I have to take this," Finnick grumbled reluctantly. He looked at Annie one more time, his heart rate picking up when her eyes met his. "I'll see you all for dinner, maybe."

He started down the corridor and took the elevator to the ground floor, where he exited the building.

In the front courtyard, his client, a wealthy Capitol woman with purple hair and pink skin was waiting for him patiently. Finnick sighed and pretended he hadn't seen her so she didn't think his frown was directed towards her. She waved towards him, and he looked around the courtyard before looking at her and sending her one of his Panem-famous smiles.

He sauntered over and planted a firm kiss on her mouth. "Hello, Sylvia." He grinned, holding her by the waist. "I've missed you."

She giggled and feigned embarrassment, "Oh, Finnick, not here…" She looked around, trying to see if anyone was watching her with one of the most handsome men in the country.

"Then where?" he pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. "Where can I take you?" he purred seductively.

He felt her shiver in his arms, "I-I- I have my car…" she stuttered. "Let's go back to my place,"

"Drive fast," he mumbled, kissing down her neck.

She gasped and took his hand, leading him towards wherever she had parked. Finnick wiped the glitter off of his tongue while she wasn't looking. Glitter was probably his least favorite Capitol trend from this year, because it affected him directly.

He got into the passenger's seat and she hit the gas pedal with full force. "I've missed you so much, Finny."

_Yuck,_ Finnick thought. That had to be one of the worse nicknames he'd been given.

"I can't wait to be with you," he mumbled, reaching over and sliding his hand down her thigh.

She quivered and moaned under his touch. They all did.

"I've been thinking," Finnick changed his tone. "How about instead of paying me in secrets, you could help me with something else?"

"I'm listening," she chirped. She sounded a bit irritated that he had ruined the mood.

"Well, now that its game season-"

"Oh I am _so_ excited about this year!" she declared. "Your kids look absolutely terrific."

"So, I'd like you to sponsor them." Finnick concluded.

"Hmm… alright." She said quickly. "As long as I can have you all to myself." She smirked, pulling into her apartment complex.

"Of course," Finnick promised. "That was always on the table."

She smiled. Finnick leaned in over the armrest and took her face in both of his hands. He pressed his lips against hers in a quick, chaste kiss. A cold feeling at the pit of his heart was wishing it were someone else.

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><p><strong>Its short because the next chapter's gonna be really big and eventful. Protective Finnick is just 3333333333 HONESTLY! <strong>

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Follow Fave and Review pls!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: _I'm baaaack!_ I realize in my last note I was kind of vague. By 'eventful' I didn't mean Annie and Finnick kissing or anything, sorry. BUT there is a great deal of Annie and Finnick _bonding _and _fluff_ as one might say so I hope thats enough! Its actually kind of funny, because right now I'm writing the part where Annies _in_ the games, and I'm realizing this story is really damn long, so I should probably post whatever I've got right now. I wanna get to the good stuff! But, just in case you guys were wondering, the kiss is going to be _AFTER_ Annie gets out of the games. All that nice smutty stuff between her and Finnick is gonna go down then too. I just feel like where their relationship is at before the games doesn't feel right for them to kiss so soon, ya know? Anyway, distance makes the heart grow fonder, so in the games there's probably going to be some revelations *cough* you probably understand what I'm tryna insinuate here *cough* **

**So, enjoy this chapter! It's got cute dorks fallin for each other!**

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><p>"Today is your final assessment," Cintia chirped the next morning at breakfast. "Are you excited?"<p>

Maxxie nodded enthusiastically. The night before, he had been carted off to the medics to properly get his wound cleaned up. "In the end," he proclaimed to Mags and Annie, who stayed up waiting for him to get back. "They just put some medicine on it. They said the stitches were actually really good!" his wide toothy grin making Annie's heart swell with relief.

This morning, most of his skin had fused back together, and he was scheduled to have his stitches removed after their training.

Annie stared at the empty seat next to Mags. Finnick hadn't come home last night.

"And then it's the interview right? With Mr. Caesar Salad?" Maxxie asked.

Annie laughed loudly, but tried to withhold it when Cintia shot her a look. Mags' shoulders shook with hidden laughter. "Err… you mean Mr. Flickerman, right? Then yes, your interviews will take place tomorrow night. And then it's the games!" she clasped her hands together and let out a contented sigh, "Oh you two will just be _amazing_ I can't wait to see you in action!"

Annie pushed her food around on her plate. She had finally slept last night, but still not much of an appetite. Mags eyed her warily.

"The key to the final assessment," Mags dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "Is showing your worth, really. I said this to Finnick too when I was training him. It's important to show the judges all of your skills, this includes things that aren't just using weapons." She seemed to emphasize this to Annie, "Does that make sense?"

Maxxie and Annie nodded. "Where _is _Finnick anyway?" Maxxie asked.

As if on cue, Finnick came in through the front door.

"I'm exhausted," he declared, dragging his feet over to the couch and then lying down.

"Sorry," Mags mumbled. "Maybe you two should go get ready."

Cintia was already over Finnick worrying about him relentlessly.

"Err…." Mags trailed off seeing the spectacle unfolding. "Maybe I'll take you."

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><p>After Mags took them to the prep team and they got their training uniforms back- Annie's was washed and resewn- they were ushered into a large room with the rest of the tributes and were told to sit down and wait their turn.<p>

The feeling in the room was tense; no one looked at each other or said anything. They waved to Gemma and Jac and then to Kemp and Maiz, they received wary grimaces from all of them.

Annie looked over her shoulder to see Gleam watching her hungrily. To be honest, she couldn't tell if he was trying to be flirtatious, or just straight up devour her.

One by one, starting with the girl from 1, they were called up to be evaluated. Everyone was given 10 minutes to showcase their skills. Judging by how much Annie had trained, her ten minutes would be a bit closer to five.

"Maxxie," she whispered gently, trying not to break the silence. "You can't goof off anymore, okay? You really have to show the judges what you can do, so throw the trident, do what Gemma and Jac taught you, make fish hooks, do everything you know, even if it seems stupid, okay?"

He nodded quickly. "You too, Annie."

"Annie Cresta, District 4, please report to the training room for evaluation." The prerecorded Capitol man's voice filled the silence in the room.

"Good luck." Maxxie whispered.

"You too, Maxxie." Annie's voice was uneasy.

She got up and followed the hall that the six tributes before her had walked down. There were two Peacekeepers that opened the door for her to enter the room.

It was the same exact layout of the training room they had used before, except it was empty. The game makers were sitting at the balcony, watching her with drinks in their hands without a care in the world. Annie looked around; there wasn't much she could do.

First, she started a fire at the station with camouflage and fire-starting equipment. She had learned how to start a fire from a novel about a man going out into the woods exempt from civilization. Hunger and starvation set in later and killed him, but before then he had taught the reader the basics of firemaking. Annie was now thankful for that.

She moved on to throw axes like Gemma and Jac had taught her, they landed on target, but far from the actual bullseye. The gamemakers seemed unimpressed.

She tried the spears too, using the in-depth form Gleam had taught her, one of the five spears she threw landed on a bullseye- thank god. She would later have to tell Finnick the sexual harassment wasn't for nothing.

The gamemakers had seemed to lose all interest in her, which made her nervous. There were a couple still watching, but Annie was, as it seemed, all out of material.

She wandered over to the station where she could easily make a fishhook, but the gamemakers knew that. And a fishhook wasn't as impressive as a sword to the heart, in their eyes.

Suddenly she remembered, a book she read where the character was severely depressed. Night after night, this character would slash their wrists in order to feel something- pain, some form of emotion. But they described their cuts as always being horizontal- not vertical- because a vertical cut on the wrist would kill you. Some of your main veins and arteries wound between your radius and your ulna, if you cut vertically, you would lose too much blood too quickly. And there, laid Annie's answer.

She worked persistently, looking for a blade small enough to act as her needle. In the end, she cut down a chunk of wood to the size of a toothpick and smoothed out the edges to minimize the chance of splinters.

There was a knife rack facing the balcony that Annie walked over to quickly, she could feel her ten minutes being eaten up.

She laid her tools on the ground- her wooden needle, fishing wire, and piece of cloth she had ripped from her shirt (again).

She grabbed a rather sharp and lithe blade from the rack, it looked like a knife one would use to cut up venison. Annie only knew this because of Adelma's extensive kitchen, she felt a pang in her chest.

The gamemakers were now all looking away, either talking to each other or crowding around the buffet table.

"Excuse me," Annie called.

Nothing. They didn't even look her way.

She tried again, this time a bit more forcefully. "Excuse me!"

A few heads turned to look at her, that was enough, she decided. Annie took a deep breath. It was now or never. She dug the tip of the blade into her forearm and dragged it down; she let out a yelp of pain before dropping the bloody knife at her side.

There was a cacophony of gasps and yells that came from the balcony- she finally had their attention. Annie grabbed the cloth and covered her arm, which had bled so much; her blood was dripping down the sides of it.

She wound the fishing wire around the wooden needle carefully, and began stitching herself up. She winced with pain, she had made the needle too thick, but she couldn't back out now- she would have killed herself.

After what felt like an excruciating number of hours, Annie had finished stitching up the length of her forearm. She looked up from her work to see the gamemakers watching her, gaping. One had dropped their wine glass, and three avoxes were bent over the spill trying to mop it up.

Annie wiped the blood off of the wound and held out the clean, neat work she had done to them. Their expressions were somewhat unreadable- she had just done what her mentors had told her: showcase her worth.

"Get her out of here," the head gamemaker barked at the frozen Peacekeepers at the door.

Annie walked towards the door and was met halfway by the Peacekeepers, they took her by the arms and escorted her the rest of the way, pushing her down a hallway that led to where Mags and Finnick were waiting for her again.

"Not this shit again," Finnick grumbled when he saw her. He took her from the Peacekeepers and held her steady by the shoulders. "Annie, what happened?"

The peacekeepers retreated back to the training room, Maxxie was up now.

"I showed off my skills," Annie explained. She felt a bit dizzy, she must've lost half a pint, and for someone of her stature that was practically like losing half a gallon. "I did what you guys said."

"That's not what we _meant_ though," Mags sounded upset, for the first time. "Are you alright, Annie?"

"I think I should just lie down a bit," Annie stumbled into Finnick's chest. "Woah, sorry. I just spilled a lot of my blood everywhere i…" she trailed off. She pushed herself up using Finnick's chest, she could feel his strong abdomen tensing under her fingers. She almost fell over backwards, but Finnick caught her by the arm and hoisted her up.

"Come on, I'll take you back." Finnick picked up Annie in his arms, her head lolling back as he did so. She could hardly keep her eyes open. "Mags, you should wait for Maxxie to finish up, we'll see you back at four's suite."

She nodded, but Finnick was already halfway down the hall.

"What the hell, Annie?" He whispered loudly, some of the tributes and most of the mentors were staring at her lethargic body in his arms.

"I just need a nap," she explained, waving her hand as if batting away a fly. "I'm fine. But can I just ask you a question? Why is the world moving, like, _super_ fast?"

"Oh god," Finnick mumbled, pressing level four in the elevator. It shot up quickly and he rushed into the suite.

He set her down onto the couch, and that's when Annie passed out.

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><p>"No, I don't care if there aren't any meals being served right now, get me some goddamn food!" Finnick's voice was terse and nervous. The sound of a button being depressed was followed by the noise that signaled a phone call being cut off.<p>

Annie opened her eyes to see Finnick standing by her staring at her.

"What's going on?" She sat up.

Finnick shot forward and laid her back down again, "You lost a lot of blood. You passed out for little while, but don't worry they're sending food up to raise your blood pressure."

Annie held her head in her hands for a moment. "Oh god, sorry about that." She mumbled. "I forgot I had mild anemia."

Finnick nearly turned red, "Are you kidding me, Annie? You scared the shit out of me! You passed out on the couch. You sliced yourself open, what for?""

"I gave myself stiches for the gamemakers." She sat up without a problem now. Finnick was squatting next to her. "They weren't paying attention; I had to leave an impression, didn't I?"

"Some impression," Finnick scoffed. "I don't know what the Capitol would do if a tribute killed themselves accidentally before the games."

"District four would see a lot of trouble," Annie said quietly, staring down at her stitched up forearm. She ran her fingers over her puckered skin.

After a couple beats of silence, Finnick stood up. "You should probably get some of that medicine Maxxie got yesterday." He decided. "I'll go get it." He started towards the door quickly, as if he couldn't stand being in the room for another second.

"Wait! Finnick," Annie called.

Finnick stopped in his tracks and reeled back, looking at her expectantly.

"Please don't leave," she begged. "We haven't hung out together in a while."

Finnick laughed dryly. "And why would we hang out to begin with?" It came out a lot harsher than he expected it to, and he could see how hurt Annie was.

"I just thought, that's what _friends_ did." She explained.

His mouth went dry. Mags had told her. "That's embarrassing," he scratched the back of his neck and adverted his gaze. "Did Mags also tell you I snore?"

Annie blanched. "She didn't-" She started. "Actually, I knew that all on my own, you're pretty loud."

Finnick scoffed, "I was joking, I don't snore."

Annie raised her eyebrows sarcastically, "Sorry to break it to you… but…"

"Yeah well don't act like you're so flawless, Cresta." Finnick walked over to the couch and looked at her accusingly, his tone had turned lighter and he had a friendly fire in his eyes, one Annie hadn't recognized in days. "You always do that thing with your eyes!"

"What thing with my eyes?" Annie asked, her eyes widening.

"That!" Finnick pointed. "That right there, you make your eyes all big and innocent, and you make everyone just melt!"

Annie's face turned crimson, she looked away. "Oh yeah? Well what about your inability to button up your shirts?" She asked. "Look! Even now!" She pointed at the first three buttons of his polo shirt. They were open, exposing the muscles of his chest.

Finnick covered it with a hand, mock-bashfully. "What are you doing looking at my chest, Cresta? You pervert."

Annie blushed again, but laughed hard enough she threw her head back. Finnick smiled triumphantly. Finally things were back to normal between them.

An hour later, the remnants of tea and cookies were laid out on the table. Finnick had finally coaxed Annie into eating something, and once she had, her skin had regained a brighter shade of peach, her lips had turned redder and fuller, and the blood in her cheeks was flowing again. She was also more energetic and conscious, which made him relax at last.

Finnick's head was awfully close to being in Annie's lap, as she sat on the couch and read to him the end of the Great Gatsby. Annie had to reread some parts of where they had left off, because Finnick had been focusing on _her_ when she originally read it. And now, it was even worse. He wasn't even listening to a word she said. All he could see were her bright pink lips, forming words. Her bright green eyes dancing over the pages. Sometimes, when she would read a certain characters expression, she would subconsciously mimic their facial expressions with her own. Finnick had to really battle himself to keep from laughing and disturb the perfect moment.

He hadn't realized it before, but Annie was so beautiful. It was the subtle, unconventional kind. The kind that creeps up on you.

She had very very faint freckles splashed on the bridge of her nose that he was just now noticing. And a small, hardly noticeable dimples that only came apparent when she mimicked Daisy's chipper and happy moments in the book.

Finnick stepped back and examined himself, what was he doing? What was-

"That's the end." Annie stated softly, closing the book.

"Seriously?" Finnick sat up, "That was so short, I-" he was cut short when he looked at Annie.

She had tears in her eyes threatening to spill over onto her perfectly freckled cheeks. She bit her lip, making Finnick's eyes flicker to them quickly before looking back at her eyes again.

"Annie, don't cry, I know the games are-"

"It's not the games," she let out a choked laugh. A couple tears trickled down her cheek and she wiped them away with a shaky hand. "No one showed up to Gatsby's funeral." She explained. "Everyone in New York showed up to his parties, but no one could even muster up the time to show up to his funeral. Not even Wolfsheim, who was _supposed_ to be his good friend. How the hell is that fair?" she blubbered.

Finnick tried to keep from laughing, seeing that she was actually very upset by it. "Hey, it's okay, it's just a book. Nick was there, right? And the owl guy?"

"Finnick," Annie's voice cracked. "That's not the point, it's deeper than that. You don't know what it's like to have no one." She moved her thumb over the pages, and wiped her face with her other hand. Her tears had stopped. "Sometimes- this is kind of silly of me…"

"No, tell me." Finnick coaxed her on.

"Sometimes I get upset by the fact that someone might hate me and they don't even know me." She let out a vacuous laugh. "Like those tributes for example, they all hate me. Everyone really hates each other, right? Because we block each other from getting home and staying alive. I think-" her voice cracked again and she had to regain her composure. "I think if they all got to know me, we could all be really good friends." She concluded.

Finnick smiled sadly, "Where the hell did you even come from?" he said lovingly. "Who would even think of that?"

She laughed again and sniffled. "I guess it's pretty silly."

Finnick shook his head. "How come you care about what people think of you, though?"

She looked quite uncomfortable by his question. She stared down at the floor for what seemed like an eternity, just spaced out in her own world.

"Annie?" Her head snapped up and she seemed to remember where she was again. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No," she said quietly, "Its fine."

There was another pause before she drew in a shaky breath.

"When I was eleven years old, I found my mom's body hanging from the rafters of our porch." Annie wasn't crying anymore, she seemed almost… angry. "And for years and years I just went on wondering if it was something I did. My dad hadn't been around, since his fishing boat got lost at sea a little bit before that, but I just never knew. I wasn't enough for her. And I wondered if she ever really ever loved me, because if you loved someone, why would you ever leave them alone like that? She was the only person I had left."

Annie's jaw was clenched. Her brows were furrowed; she was still staring at the ground, refusing to look at Finnick.

"I'm so sorry, Annie." Was what Finnick was _going_ to say. But then he remembered how he had felt when the Capitol killed his family. He was angry and sad and deadly all at the same time, he didn't want apologies from people. He wanted revenge. He wanted to curl up in a ball and escape. He didn't want to be left alone.

Instead of saying that, he reached for her hand and held it in his. After a couple of moments, she moved her hand to face his, and intertwined her fingers through his.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Thank you," she said ever so softly.

* * *

><p>"So Lord of the Flies is like, the Hunger Games <em>before<em> the Hunger Games." Annie explained, pulling the backpack full of her books out from under her bed. "It's about these kids who get stranded on an island without adults and how they set up a hierarchy and basically figure out how to function as a group."

"That sounds like the ideal Hunger Games." Finnick admitted, he lied down on her made up bed, making the covers on the opposite side from where he had lied down puff up.

"Oh no," Annie pulled the book out of her bag and lied down next to him with it. "Trust me, it gets gory."

Finnick frowned. "And you like it? Even after you said you weren't going to kill anyone in the arena?"

Annie looked at him with a strange expression. "This is… fiction. It's not real."

"I'm not stupid, I just-"

"I get what you mean," Annie held up a hand making him close up his mouth. "But I think my imagination and my real life morals are pretty different."

"Are you saying you have a dirty mind?" Finnick laughed and wiggled his eyebrows.

Annie glared at him. "Right now, I'm imagining myself choking you."

"Kinky," Finnick whistled.

Annie opened her mouth to object, but opted to hit him with the hardcover book instead. "You know what I mean!" she shuddered. "Being around you is so weird, I feel like I have to take a shower afterwards. Sometimes you're so disgusting." She was laughing though.

Finnick grinned, and she began to read. They had somehow switched from that awkward-boundaries friendship stage, to being able to kid around without a problem. And Finnick was _so _excited about it. Spending the entire day with Annie felt like eating an entire home cooked district 4 meal and not having that heavy, dragging full feeling afterwards.

He was beginning to think in food metaphors because of his growing hunger.

As if his stomach needed to justify this, it let out a ferocious growl.

"Was that your stomach?" Annie put the book down and stared at him incredulously.

When he nodded embarrassedly she threw her head back laughing again. "It sounded like a boat crash!"

He laughed along, only because her laugh was somewhat infectious. "Yeah, yeah, so I'm hungry. Where's the big deal in that?"

"Speaking of being hungry," Annie closed her book and threw her feet over the edge. "Where are Mags and Maxxie? Hasn't it been way too long?"

Finnick wasn't in a rush to end his time with Annie, but he got up too and followed her out of her room.

They walked into the dining room and lo and behold, Mags, Maxxie and Cintia had all started to eat without them. Finnick felt his stomach growl again and Annie gave him a knowing look. He glared at her and she giggled behind her hand.

"_There_ you two are! We thought you had gone off somewhere- goodness, Annie! What on _earth _happened to your arm?!" Cintia's nitpicking began again as she stood and came over to Annie, hovering over her.

Finnick moved to sit down and Mags shot him a wink. He didn't know what that meant so he raised his eyebrow in question, but she just shook her head with a smile.

"We're going to the medic," Cintia decided. "I'll take her now, since I've already eaten. Don't let the avoxes take the food away if we don't come back in time." She barked out orders as she led Annie out of the suite by her bad arm.

Annie was wincing in pain, but she couldn't pull her arm out of Cintia's obliviously strong grip.

"Why don't I take her?" Finnick stood from where he had previously sat down.

"Oh no dear, that's so kind of you, it's alright I think I have it handled." Cintia giggled. "We won't be long now." She slammed the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Maxxie seemed confident about his assessment. He told Mags and Finnick about how he had gotten the trident to hit the target three separate times, and he used the axe well how his District 7 friends had taught them. Finnick would probably be hearing from Johanna throughout the games about how cute their alliance was. She would say this with heavy sarcasm, though.<p>

After dinner, the avoxes tried swooping in and clearing the table, just as Cintia had said they would, and Finnick told them they were still waiting on someone to come back.

The three of them moved into the living room to watch the assessment scores.

"What about Annie?" Maxxie asked. "We can't start without her!"

"She's not here," Finnick's voice was full of disappointment, like Maxxie's. "We'll just have to tell her how it goes afterwards."

The television switched on, Caesar Flickerman flipped through the pages he held in his hand. "From District 1,"

"It just started." Mags murmured.

The tv flashed a picture of the 1 girl with black hair, Caesar Flickerman's voice articulated a clean cut "Nine."

The boy from 2 got a 10, and the other Careers got nines. The pair from 3 got a five and a six respectively. Finnick winced at the thought of Beetee and Wiress mentoring tributes. Those two were all over the place.

Finally it was time for District 4. "From District Four," Caesar boomed. "Maxwell Bevan, with a score of seven."

"Maxxie, that's amazing!" Finnick high fived him.

Maxxie's face lit up, "Really?"

"I've never seen a boy your age get a score that high," Mags lied easily. "You've done really well!"

"Hold on," Finnick held up a hand to silence the both of them. "Annie's up next."

"…Annie Cresta," Caesar Flickerman read carefully. "With a score of nine."

"Nine?!" Cintia cheered.

The three of them whirled around to see Annie and Cintia entering through the door.

"A nine is fantastic!" Cintia proclaimed, "You two could win! I am entirely elated!"

_There were those goddamned alliterations again_, Finnick thought to himself.

"What score did Maxxie get?" Annie interrupted the celebration.

"Seven," Maxxie said matter-of-factly.

"A seven?! Maxxie that's amazing!" Annie rushed over and wrapped her arms around the young boy.

Finnick pretended he wasn't jealous of a twelve year old.

"It's no big deal," Maxxie feigned humbleness.

Annie fed his ego, "It _is_ a big deal. This is awesome! Nice job." She held out her hand for him to high five, identical to the way Finnick had moments before.

"How's your arm?" Finnick asked.

Annie held it out for him to inspect. It was covered in some sort of shiny glue like substance, the undeniable Capitol medicine.

"What does that mean?" Finnick scoffed. "How am I supposed to tell from that?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "It _means_ it'll be better by morning, because Capitol medicine uses witchcraft. It's scientifically proven."

Cintia gasped, holding her hands over her ears. "Don't joke about things like that, young lady!"

Finnick stared at Cintia unamused.

"From District Seven, Gemma Myers with a ten." Mags had turned up the volume in order to move their attention back to the important task at hand.

"Oh wow! Gemma got the same score as the big guy!" Maxxie said to Annie.

"Jac Malkin with a score of six."

"I guess we all can't get good sevens like some people…" Finnick trailed off.

"I got a seven," Maxxie reiterated, beaming.

Annie laughed to herself.

Maiz and Kemp both got sixes too. The kids from 12 got a four and a five respectively, and that was all Annie had paid attention to. She had spent most of her time staring at Finnick. Since he had his good attitude back, he seemed to have gotten even more handsome, if possible. For one, his eyes were full and his expression was happier. He seemed to carry himself in a lighter and more careless way, he seemed to act like a child, and Annie loved it. The entire time Caesar Flickerman called out scores, Finnick would be goofing off with Maxxie, tickling him and exchanging jokes and just having a good time. He must've remembered when Annie told him Maxxie looked up to him.

After the show was over, they turned off the tv. Annie and Maxxie simultaneously let out huge yawns, and moved towards their rooms.

"Uh, Miss Cresta. You haven't eaten yet," Cintia chided. "Miss another meal and you'll collapse in on yourself."

"Oh but its so late," Annie complained. "I'll just have a big breakfast tomorrow." She promised.

"No, you should eat." It was the one time Finnick would admit Cintia was thinking logically. "Come on, you don't have to eat alone, I'll sit with you."

"Such a gentleman," Cintia swooned. "Goodnight to all of you then." She blew everyone a kiss and exited the room.

"So theatrical," Annie grumbled under her breath.

Mags and Maxxie did the same, without blowing the kisses, but Maxxie did mimic her wobbly walking in order to get a laugh out of them, which he did.

Annie slumped down in the dining chair and stared at the unappetizing, now-cold food. "I swear to all that is holy, if you make me eat something I'll fall asleep in it."

Finnick grinned, sitting across from her. "Just eat a little. Well, actually, you already usually eat a little. Eat a lot." He paused a second to think. "You know what? Lets do this Annie versus Maxxie dinner style, give me your plate."

Annie looked at him with confusion, and then realized. "Oh haha, patronize me for trying to make a little boy get taller than four foot eleven."

"You could be taller than five feet if you ate more too," Finnick said, piling food onto her plate.

"I'm five foot five and done growing." She narrowed her eyes.

"Well after today, you know, where you fainted and all, maybe a little food would do you some good." Finnick decided, he plopped her plate down in front of her. "Some high fat, high cholesterol food to block up those arteries."

"Well when you put it that way!" Annie pretended to dig in.

Finnick laughed lightly. "Seriously, eat. I'll wait."

She scooped up a spoonful of pasta and reluctantly bit into it. "It's so cold." She shuddered.

"So is my heart," Finnick said seriously. "Now finish what's on your plate."

Annie's disgusted face morphed into a smile that she made an effort to hide. "Are you condescending me?"

"No, it's actually really fun to talk to people like this," Finnick joked. "I think I'll start doing it more often now. Have you showered yet today by the way?"

"Stop, you don't understand how bad boys are about showering." Annie ate another mouthful of cold food and swallowed. "They think you don't need soap to shower. Why would one even begin to believe that? Why is it such a concept? Why is everyone surprised every single day that they need to take a shower?" she huffed.

"Well actually, you probably would've hated me as a teenager, because that was me. To the t." Finnick laughed.

"I already hate you."

Finnick froze.

"For making me eat this." Annie finished.

Finnick's body relaxed in relief, he hoped it wasn't obvious to Annie how much she had an effect on him.

Annie pushed her plate away after ten more minutes, "Okay, I'm full. For real, can I go sleep now?"

"Yeah, that was more than I've ever seen you eat." Finnick inspected her half-eaten plate. "Go ahead."

"What are you gonna do?" She asked. "Have any plans to exert mild-torture on someone else?"

Finnick's face fell. "I, uh, have work."

"Oh." Annie's face was unreadable, "Well, good luck. Goodnight."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Finnick offered, but he wasn't entirely sure if it would be true.

His entire body seemed to ache as he watched Annie's fragile figure retreat back to her room.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so frickin pumped to post more! Thanks to everyone who's reading even though a lot of stuff is really inaccurate, even if you guys stop liking my story, I'm still gonna finish it. I'm just really frickin pumped to have it out there, haha!<strong>

**Hope you liked it! Review, Favorite and Follow please!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Now that I look over this, I realize how much I dislike it. Nevertheless, it does move the story along, which is key. You'll see that in Annie's interview I give a little nudge at Finnick's Catching Fire interview, I thought it'd be like a little foreshadowing/reference. Anyway, next chapter will definitely be better.**

* * *

><p>"Your dress is awesome!" Gemma said in awe when she saw Annie in the interview queue. "I really like what the District four stylists have been doing so far."<p>

"You should tell them," Annie said with a smile. "They'd probably propose to you."

Gemma laughed, it sounded like bells ringing, Annie decided. "Well me and Jac kinda look like trees." She held out the stiff fabric of her dress that restricted her arm movement, "District seven always get she short end of the stick anyway, doesn't it?" She said with a laugh.

Johanna Mason, district 7's mentor called Gemma over to where she was standing with Jac.

"I'd better go," Gemma motioned to her mentor.

"Yeah, go ahead. I should probably be finding my mentor anyway too." She gave Gemma a warm smile, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Right," Gemma gave her a thumbs up.

"Gemma!" Johanna Mason yelled.

When the two girls looked over, she pointed her finger as if to say, _HERE! NOW!_

Gemma ran over as fast as she could on the heels and weirdly sewn dress.

Annie turned back and walked around back to the changing room from where she had exited. Bregje, Lais, and Iva were waiting there with Maxxie. "There you are!" Lais gasped. "We didn't know where you had run off to!"

"You look stupefying stunning," Bregje smirked, crossing his arms over his chest in admiration of his own work. Iva made a face of disgust when she heard his forced alliteration. "I thought things were going to get tough when Cintia came to me last night with that horrible scar, but I'm the best in the business. Of course, I was able to take care of it."

Lais agreed with him relentlessly. "Your modesty is appalling, Bregje." Iva deadpanned. "Please, don't hold it all in."

Of course Bregje, being from the Capitol, let her sarcastic remark fly right over his head. He began ranting on and on about his greatness, his triumphs, his peak, and the hardships he had come from. All the while still sounding as if he were narrating his own life.

Annie tried getting a look at herself in the mirror behind the stylists. The dress was long sleeved with a sweetheart neckline. Originally, it was supposed to have been a simple bandage wrap dress, but the stunt Annie pulled in the final assessment had left a still puckered scar that Cintia absolutely would not allow anyone to get an eye on.

The dress stopped at her upper thigh, something Annie was now coming to find conservative in the Capitol's eye. It was much more modest than other things they had dressed her in so far. And instead of having the neckline drop down and try to expose what nonexistent cleavage Annie possessed, it covered it up fairly well with a thin, sheer layer of very fine lace. It was probably the prettiest part of Annie's dress.

They had also paired her dress with lacy heels, only three inches, that was her limit.

The best part of the dress, though, was the color. It was a dark deep shade of green. It reminded Annie of seaweed that got caught in the big nets after a deep sea trip. The type of seaweed that grew to be as tall as a tree when it was submerged in water. The stylists had said it complimented the color of her hair and her eyes well, but Annie kept on pretending it would be her last token of home; her last way to remember the small details of District 4.

"It's almost time," Mags walked in through the door, followed by Finnick.

His eyes stopped at Annie and looked her over. His face went blank, and Annie worried that he was skeptical about how she looked again. "You… you look," his voice cracked a bit and he had to clear his throat. "You look really nice." He said quietly.

The stylists began crowding him and bombarding him with questions and comments. Cintia appeared in the doorway and got a good look at Annie in her dress and Maxxie in his suit with matching dark green tie. "Fabulous, you two are absolutely fabulous!"

And then the stylists moved on to gush about the fashion with her.

Finnick and Mags swooped in closer to Maxxie and Annie, now that they had the chance. "There isn't much to coach you on for the interview," Mags began. "Because you two are both pleasant kids to begin with."

Maxxie and Annie exchanged sincere smiles with the mentors.

"Seriously," Finnick reiterated. "More often than not our tributes are pretty arrogant, and sometimes that doesn't come off too well with the crowd. But being too humble is also off-putting for the crowd, so, just be yourselves."

"What is humble?" Maxxie asked quickly. He was focused and serious, it almost seemed fake.

Annie smiled and giggled at his conviction. "It's the opposite of being full of yourself. So, the opposite of Finnick."

"Hey!" Finnick grinned. "That reminds me, Annie, be your cockier self, alright? Talk yourself up at least a little."

"And don't forget to sell the image the Capitol already perceives of you. For you, Maxxie, that shouldn't be difficult, but Annie, they seem to believe your some sort of mysterious and sultry… person." Mags coached. She, like Maxxie, also seemed to be in this uncharacteristic game mode. "I mean, it's not that you're not these things it's just-"

Annie laughed. "You don't have to defend your accusation; I couldn't be sultry if my life depended on it."

"Your life does depend on it," Finnick deadpanned. "But don't look at it that way. Pretend you're a celebrity."

Annie narrowed her eyes at him, such an inappropriate time to be bringing that up. "Do you mind? It's gonna be kinda hard to keep the conversation light with that in mind."

"Tributes! Annie, Maxwell, it's time for your interview!" Cintia chirped. "Come come, let's have a lot of fun now, Caesar is such a pleasant conversation partner, I'm sure you'll be a delight in his company."

Cintia's sing song voice continued like that until they were pushed into line with the other tributes. Annie would interview seventh. She hadn't even gotten a chance to see her mentors before she was escorted (rather forcefully) from the room.

Gleam looked over his shoulder and caught her eye. He winked and made kissing face, and Annie felt her face flush. She stared down at the floor. It was so embarrassing once she realized what real harassment looked like. It was different when Finnick did those things because she knew he was joking, he wouldn't ever harass her like that… he would also never kiss a girl like her…

Annie felt a bit upset after that. She watched the girl from District 1's interview with Caesar - her name was Caramel- with a frown.

"That's the stupidest goddamn name I've ever heard," whispered Photus to Dani.

District 2's male whirled around and shot them one of the scariest glares Annie had ever seen.

Annie tapped Photus' shoulder softly, "I don't mean to sound mean, but aren't you named after a reactant in photosynthesis?"

He nodded. "Your point?"

_Well, when you put it that way… _Annie thought. Instead she shrugged, "I was just wondering."

Later into the interview, the viewers learned that she liked to be called Cara, much more tasteful. Cara seemed to have a rather unpleasant personality; she was rather vulgar without trying to be. And no matter how beautiful her face was, her eyes seemed to freeze Flickerman in his tracks.

Gleam was up next, he blew the crowd away, as expected. It took Annie a while to figure out what his mannerisms were reminding her of. And then she had it, he was Capitol Finnick.

His winks and kisses, his flirtatious manner, and all for what? Something greater, of course. He was going to manipulate everyone, the crowd, maybe even Annie… but what did he want from Annie? Never mind that… she was almost positive he was stealing Finnick's strategy from five years ago. Some giant sponsor gift would swoop in and save him in the last moment, and he would scoop up his victory with his good looks and charming smile. Caesar even seemed to pick up on this, and reminded the crowd of how much Gleam reminded him of young Finnick.

Annie was openly irritated about the comparison.

"How come you can bite your nails and I can't?"

Annie took the fingernail she had subconsciously chewing on out of her mouth and looked down. Maxxie was staring at her with an eyebrow raised, angry and expectant. He looked like a mother that had just caught her teenager sneaking out.

"Neither of us can," Annie wiped her finger on her dress. "It's a bad habit. I'm just nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" he implored. "It's not like anything is gonna go wrong, did you see that first girl? She looked like a tuna and the audience still was yelling and clapping at the end… maybe it was to get her off the stage… but it still sounded like she did well!"

Annie laughed; she wished she could have Maxxie's optimism. "I guess you're right," she admitted.

"Of course I am," Maxxie said proudly, puffing out his chest the way Finnick sometimes did when he subconsciously sized someone up. It was rather funny, actually. The more Maxxie and she and the mentors spent time together, the more they picked up each other's habits and mannerisms, Finnick had taken to speaking with his hands in the same childlike way Maxxie did, Maxxie played with his hair the same way Mags did when she lost focus in a conversation, Annie sometimes tucked in her chin when she smiled in a way that was distinctly Odair. There were just small things that were reminders of how close they had all gotten. It almost felt like a family.

District 2's tributes interviewed at a gruelingly boring pace. They were both extremely banal, but Caesar didn't dare interrupt or try to digress their responses in fear of getting his neck snapped. The boy's name was Titus, Annie remembered a boy from six with the same name who had resulted to cannibalism in a past game, she hoped there wasn't some strange curse on the name. She could really imagine him eating her, though. As for the girl, Isobel, the way she spoke just seemed outright angry. Not at being in the games, but just at the world in general. She spit a lot when she spoke too. The Capitol still roared when they took a bow and exited the stage.

District 3's kids were up next. Dani's contemplative and quixotic behavior served to be quite entertaining.

"What are your favorite things to do back home in District three?" Caesar asked as if he was genuinely interested.

"Well, producing the Capitol's technology, of course!" she grinned at the camera. Caesar Flickerman remarked what a sweet girl she was, the crowd cheered her on.

Annie smirked. Photus, standing in front of her, shook his shoulders.

"What's so funny?" Maxxie asked. "That seemed like a stupid answer."

"She's kidding," Annie said quietly, out of earshot of the stylists and Peacekeepers. "But they don't know she is."

Maxxie laughed heartily way too late to fully enjoy the humor of it.

Photus soon was being escorted to the stage, and then it would be Annie's turn. She gulped nervously.

Photus seemed to be doing alright, he exhibited sure signs of strange behavior right at the beginning of the interview, and Annie finally realized he had a slight twitch in his left shoulder.

"Electrocution." He answered simply when Caesar Flickerman asked him the cause of such a flaw. "That, and poor working co- I mean judgment. Poor judgment. You see, I'm often rather clumsy. When I was young, I stuck a fork into an outlet in the wall. Poor decision." His arm twitched. "What's done is done now, I suppose."

"Hmm…" Caesar Flickerman seemed to gloss over his falter, and his fib. "Well it was great to meet you, Photus. It'll be a pleasure to watch you in action! Hopefully your poor judgment doesn't still take precedence!" And then he bellowed a vacuous, plastic laugh that the audience soon joined in on.

Seconds afterwards, Annie was being grabbed by the arm and walked towards where the other tributes had disappeared to.

"Good luck!" she heard Maxxie call out to her.

She wished she had been able to tell him the same, but Caesar Flickerman's booming voice that only got louder and louder flushed out all other noise.

* * *

><p>"So tell me, Miss Annie Cresta," Caesar Flickerman laid back in his chair as the crowd died down.<p>

Finnick was sitting on the couch in the mentors lounge. He leaned forward and his ears seemed to perk when her name was mentioned. He couldn't hear what the tv was saying because of the other mentor's loud and obnoxious behavior, but there was captioning anyway. Capitol television always had captioning, no one really knew why.

"How is the Capitol treating you?" Caesar asked.

Annie was sitting up with her hands planted firmly in her lap, she didn't look too stiff though, and her legs were crossed, showing the skin of her upper thigh. Her pretty chocolate hair fell down her shoulders in the same natural ocean waves Finnick had first seen her with. She looked breathtaking.

"Well…" Annie was looking at her lap, petting the edge of her dress. "I'm having some of the most fun I've ever had." She said with a smirk.

"Was that suggestive?" A mentor asked Finnick. "Is she insinuating something we're supposed to catch up on?"

Finnick wanted to kick himself, Cintia had probably gotten to her, and Annie felt like she had to sell the whole sexy-mysterious-yet-innocent thing. "No." he grumbled, sinking back into his seat.

Johanna made a smart remark teasing Finnick, but he didn't hear it. Raucous laughter followed.

"Oh?" Caesar raised his eyebrows and looked at the audience in a sort of 'in on it' way. "How so?"

"I've made a lot of friends," Annie looked at the camera, doing what Finnick guessed was her attempt at a sultry gaze. Instead, the audience got a clear shot at just how beautiful her sea green eyes really were. It sure took Finnick by surprise every time their eyes met.

"I heard," Caesar sat forward in excitement. "That you blew a couple people out of the water at the sponsors' ball the other night? Hmm?"

Annie nodded. "I wouldn't say I blew them out of the water, that seems a little extensive." Finnick wanted to reach into the screen and shake her, she was reverting back to humble Annie.

"Oh please, darling, don't try that. Trinka Lavender went on a tangent about you for what seemed like an hour!" Caesar laughed, and so did the audience. "And everyone knows how Trinka gets when she finds something she likes!" More laughter.

Finnick did know, he was one of those things.

"I told a couple of people about my parents," She was looking at her lap again, Finnick couldn't read her expression, but it seemed as if the Trinka comment had rubbed her the wrong way. "Just this silly thing we'd do on summer nights."

Caesar leaned in, so did the whole Capitol, it seemed like, as Annie retold the story from the party. It was equally beautiful, equally sweet. Finnick was amazed she could recall everything in such great detail, then again, Finnick did remember quite a few things from his past he'd like to forget.

"I guess you need to get home, then, to see your parents?" That was always Caesar's way of closing interviews; he always gave the tributes a reason to win, the audience a reason to root for them.

Annie shook her head. "My parents… well, they're not around anymore. It wasn't anything that could be helped."

Finnick's heart clenched at the thought of how hurt Annie was by her mother's death.

Caesar Flickerman's face took on a mournful expression, "Well, I'm sorry to hear about that, dear. Who's waiting for you back in District four, then?"

Annie's eyes flickered to the camera, this time, fulfilling their purpose. "There _is_ someone…" she said in a slightly husky voice. Her eyes looked hungry and powerful. Finnick tried rubbing the goosebumps off his skin.

"Do you have anything you'd like to say to this person before you go?" Caesar was biting his lip in suspense. This was always the most entertaining part for the viewers, the drama.

Annie looked Caesar's apprehensive expression, and then Finnick realized, she was playing them all.

"Darling," Annie stared directly into the camera; her eyes were soft and delicate, loving. Her lips perfectly pink and full. Finnick felt his mouth go dry. "I only just realized it… but I'm in love with you. I always will be… and if I die, know that I would have rather not have lived at all than lived a life without you."

The audience was silent. The mentors were silent. Caesar was silent. Each person watching hung onto her words carefully and waited until they fully set in.

Finnick's heart was pounding, and he had no idea why. Something about the way she said those words, they seemed too real to be faked. The emotion in her eyes, her pauses between words, as if she were looking for what to say that could even begin to explain her love, it couldn't have been scripted.

"Wow," Caesar exhaled deeply, filling the silence. "It sounds like you really need to get back home, Annie."

The crowd went wild, the camera panned over people with their makeup running all down their face, who knew if it were from her story or her goodbye. Annie and Caesar said their goodbyes, Annie curtsied, and she exited the stage. The camera panned over people beginning to stand, still clapping, like an ovation.

Out of the corner of his eye, Finnick saw Mags look at him. He looked over, and she shot him a thumbs up. She knew Annie had played the audience too.

The mentors shoved him and teased him for having such a soppy tribute. But as long as Finnick knew the truth, it was good enough for him. Annie almost felt like a well-kept secret. He wasn't about to go an ruin it for himself.

Maxxie's interview was on next. Immediately he won the audience over with his boyish charm and naivety. There were obvious signs that he was putting on a bit of an over exaggerated act too, and Finnick immediately remembered when Annie had told him Maxxie was a lot more perceptive than he gave him credit for.

At the end of Maxxie's interview, he received roars of applause, not as much as Annie had, but a large amount. He would be remembered, which was the most important part of these interviews.

The television took a close up of Maxxie stumbling in his oversized loafers on his way to exit the stage, and the audience cooed 'awws' simultaneously. Mags and Finnick took this as their sign to exit. They had to go congratulate Annie and Maxxie for such a good job, more often than not those interviews were catastrophic.

Finnick felt himself rushing to meet them, Mags would sometimes ask him to wait for her, and only then would he notice he had sped up ten paces ahead of her. It wasn't before they appeared at the door of the district 4 suite that Finnick realized why he was in such a rush to see them.

Tonight was their last night.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked it! So far, next update should either be tomorrow or the next day. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all the kind reviews! It feels awesome to have your support! This is kind of a milestone in the story! See you at the end!**

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><p>"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Cintia asked, cutting her food in the same dignified, manner-ish way she had exhibited from day one. "I know I am!" she winked at Finnick.<p>

He pretended not to have seen it. "It's really important you two get a good nights' sleep." He muttered quietly. "And tomorrow I think it's best that you two don't engage in the bloodbath, you haven't had a chance to do really extensive hand to hand combat, and, let's just face it, those Careers are extra menacing this year."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Maxxie said lightly, stabbing a green bean. It was the last night, and he was finally eating greens without any coaxing whatsoever.

"Any other tips for avoiding impending death?" Annie mumbled into her cup.

Finnick and Mags made eye contact from across the table. "Probably not to have a negative attitude!" Cintia proposed. "Chin up, sweetheart!"

Annie pushed her chair out; the legs of the chair emitted an awful shriek. "You know what, Cintia?" She threw the napkin from her lap down onto her plate. "Since you're so full of cheerfulness and joy and rainbows, why don't you go tomorrow? You can take my place! It sounds like you want it more than me, so, here's your chance!"

Annie stomped out of the room before anyone could say anything to console her.

"That was…" Cintia touched the side of her face lightly. "Unpleasant… and after that wonderful interview too!"

Maxxie didn't seem to be bothered by Annie's exit, and went about finishing his dinner in peace. Finnick admired his dedication to fulfilling his appetite.

After a couple of minutes, it seemed pretty obvious Annie was not coming back to the table. "I'll go talk to her," Finnick offered. Except it wasn't really an offer, he was going to go talk to her no matter what.

He rapped on the door softly and after a small pause, Annie appeared at the door. She stared at him blankly, waiting for him to say something.

"Are you alright?" His voice rasped. For some reason his words always got caught in his throat when he was looking at her.

She extended the door for him to enter, and he walked in. She closed it and walked over to her bed. There was already an indent in the comforter from where she had been lying down. "I'm not really angry," she admitted. "I've never gotten so mad I've made a scene and walked out, and I don't think I'll ever have the chance again…"

"So you just did that for fun?" Finnick half smiled, she was so hard to figure out.

She looked at him from where she was lying down. "Like I said, I don't think I'll ever get the chance again… so, why not? I might as well, who am I hurting?"

"I guess you're right." A comfortable silence enveloped the room; the buzz of the city could be heard through the thin glass of the window. "Can I tell you a secret?" Finnick asked suddenly.

Her eyes met his and she raised her eyebrows, as if beckoning him to go on.

"I think… If you tried you'd have a good chance of getting out." He swallowed nervously; he didn't want to set her off for real. "I'm just saying, if you wanted to get out of there, you could."

Annie was silent for a couple of beats, and then she sat up. "You don't think I want to get out of there?" She wasn't offended, she sounded like she was genuinely asking him, maybe even asking herself.

"You want me to be honest?" He asked.

She nodded.

He shook his head.

Annie lied back down and turned onto her side, staring out into the window. "There are a lot of reasons for me to not be around anymore." She said quietly. "For a little while, I always wondered if I'd ever had the guts to do it myself… I knew how to. I knew a hundred different ways, I could think of a thousand more if I tried." She sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think this was a sign." She admitted. "I think my time is up."

Finnick's mouth was dry; Annie didn't want to live anymore? Annie wanted to die? Annie had thought about killing herself? His mind was racing at a thousand miles a minute. She had told him all the reasons already; he just hadn't put them together. She had also told him why she couldn't do it; she just hadn't realized it for herself. She wasn't willing to leave all of those kids back in District 4 on their own. She was too selfless. She would rather live to see another painful day than have those kids be living on their own.

She didn't say anything else. Finnick walked over to the bed and lied down next to her, facing her. She didn't look at him, she stared at the horizon. The river.

He reached out and touched her head softly, letting his hands comb through her hair. It was still wet from the shower she had taken before dinner. He found himself fighting the urge to touch her face, the soft skin of her cheeks, run a finger over her thick eyelashes, or her small spray of freckles, or maybe even her perfectly plump lips.

She sighed and closed her eyes, the small tears that had congregated at the edge of her eyelids threatened to spill over.

It had all happened so fast. In one moment, Annie's arms were clutching her chest tightly, and in the next instant, she had reached out and pulled Finnick to her.

She wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face into the soft cotton of his thin white shirt.

After the initial shock of having Annie's small frame attached to him, Finnick hugged her back. He had one hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him than humanely possible, his other hand still tucked into her hair. He pressed his face to the crown of her head and breathed in, she smelled so distinctly of District 4. Not the salty sea water, not the fishy scent by the docks, but home. She smelled like home. Finnick closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He hoped she couldn't hear how fast his heart had just sped up.

Her body shook slightly in his grasp. She was crying softly into his arms for what had felt like mere seconds, when Cintia knocked on the door loudly.

"Fee-nick!" she called obnoxiously. "It's time for bed! Time to leave Miss Annie to get a good nights' sleep, she has a big day tomorrow!" Obviously, Cintia had forgiven Annie for their earlier exchange.

Finnick winced when Annie pulled away and wiped her eyes, which only made them redder and puffier than they already were.

He got up without a word and went to the door.

"Wait," Annie's voiced mumbled.

Finnick turned to look at her, into her big green doe eyes. Whatever she needed, he'd never refuse her, not now.

"Please don't go. Please don't leave me here all alone." Tears formed at the edges of her eyes again.

Leaving her alone. Annie had been left alone by her mother. Annie had been left alone to take care of all of those kids back in District 4. Annie had been left alone when she was reaped, she got two visitors that weren't even close to her. Annie had been left alone while Finnick was off with Capitol women. Annie was always alone, while she cared and looked out for everyone else, who looked out for Annie?

Finnick turned back and opened the door. Cintia was standing at the other side, expectantly. "I'm giving Annie some last minute coaching; you should go ahead and go to bed. Don't wait up." Before Cintia could protest, he shut the door.

She didn't persist. Her shadow from under the door moved to the direction of where her room was, and Finnick turned around.

Annie was clutching her face in her hands, as if she was trying to bore holes in her eye sockets. "For a second," she let go and looked up at him with a small laugh. "I thought you were really going to go."

Finnick gave her a small smile and sat down on the bed next to her. "What do you want to do? You need something to get your mind off of this, okay? Don't think about it, I'm here."

"Okay," she sniffled. "Okay… I don't know."

"Do you want to read?" Finnick caught himself; he had almost reminded her that it may be her last chance to do so. No, he had faith in her; Annie had just as much as a chance as the boy from 2.

She shook her head, "I just wanna think about home." She mumbled. "I wanna go home."

Finnick's heart hurt. "Can you tell me about District four?" he asked sincerely, lying back on the bed, sinking down into the mattress. "I don't ever get to see it much anymore, so I never get to see if it's changed."

Annie followed his lead and lied back too. "Well," she began, still sniffling a little. "They renovated one of the big net boats; I think it was The Starfish, a couple years ago. They replaced the nets and put in titanium poles instead of steel ones and repainted it, but Captain Jay still works on it."

Finnick chuckled. He remembered Captain Jay. In fact, Mags probably remembered Captain Jay too. He had been Captain of the same boat for about sixty years now.

"Let's see, you left District four permanently when you were sixteen, right?" Annie asked sincerely.

Finnick gulped and nodded. He had left at sixteen because he was finally legal, President Snow wasn't about to go selling him as a minor. Oh no, that would be inhumane.

"Well, I was about like thirteen then- no, fourteen." Annie ignored his nervous behavior, or maybe she didn't even perceive it. Her eyes were shining brightly as she recalled it. "So hammerhead sharks are almost extinct, and the big netters were starting to pick them up more, because duh, the sharks are going to go where the fish are. I never understood why that was so hard for people to comprehend. Anyway, I was fourteen and I had just read this book that they lent me in school about sharks, and I had decided that I was going to be a researcher and work in the marine lab with Mr. Hooper."

Finnick smiled, Mr. Hooper was another notorious District 4 character. The man hadn't seen sunlight in all the time Finnick had ever lived in the district. He had been caught boating after hours by Peacekeepers who had only let him go with the idea that he was just a deranged man. All the while Mr. Hooper collected samples and tested them and came up with all these crazy hypotheses about marine biology. Finnick honestly wasn't surprised Annie was interested in being Hooper's apprentice, she seemed like the type of person that would go out of their way to learn his language.

"And so one day, the netters came back with like, six hammerheads. And I was freaking out; they didn't throw them back while they were out there like they usually do. They brought them back and hung them up on the dock for everyone to see and it was my fourteen year old self's nightmare." Finnick laughed at her passion as she told the story. "So I camped out on the dock in protest and every day when they went out on the netter, I'd delay their departure by like, fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes made the difference when going out. The sea could be calm and smooth, and fifteen minutes later, it could take you an hour to get out to sea because the ocean would get rougher and the waves would get bigger.

"And of course this was bad for exporting and production because every day they'd come up short for quota from all the time they lost going out. One day Captain Jay even brought this like, machete sword thing to confront me with, and some of his crew had to hold him back and take it from him." Annie laughed recalling the memory, but that sounded straight up horrifying to Finnick. Captain Jay already had a deranged look in his eye; Finnick couldn't imagine what it looked like to have that barnacle crusted face charging him with a sword. "Anyway, long story short, the Peacekeepers came to physically remove me on day four of my protest, and you'll never guess who showed up to bail me out."

Finnick raised his eyebrows. "Not Mr. Ho-"

She nodded with a big smile. "Mr. Hooper himself." She giggled, and to Finnick it sounded like the tinkling of a bell. "He showed up in the middle of this big three way showdown between me and Captain Jay and the Peacekeepers, and he said I was his daughter and he was really sorry I had disrupted the peace, and then he took me by the arm and he got me out of there." Annie smirked triumphantly. "And then when we got off the dock he just went back in the direction he came from, and it was the first time I'd ever seen him out in the sun. I think he's missing some teeth."

Finnick laughed. "I can't believe you got Hooper to come out of his house." That in itself was more of any accomplishment he'd ever done. "I also can't believe you managed to get Peacekeepers involved and not get sent to detainment."

"Oh man," Annie sighed. "You wouldn't believe what went down a year later in the Cresta Whaling Riots." She cited it as if it were a historical date, and that itself made Finnick laugh.

She was home. She felt so much like home. Everything about her, from the way she spoke, to her mannerisms, to the little details she remembered about how the beach by the victor's village looked (Finnick later learned that she often trespassed to get a good look at it). Finnick felt as if he were home when he was near her.

They talked the whole night. Not just about district 4, they talked about everything. Annie told him about all of the books she had read; Finnick hadn't just been surprised by the content, but by the mere fact that Annie remembered them all with such detail. They talked about their flaws, their childhoods, their families, their dreams (or at least their dreams before the games), anything one could imagine.

Finnick felt as if they knew each other from top to bottom by the end of it all.

At one point in the night, Finnick admitted to what his work was. He knew Annie knew, but he had just wanted to come out and tell her for real, with no implications. He had never said it out loud; it wasn't something he could say freely. 'I'm being prostituted by the Capitol' didn't come up in conversation often, surprisingly.

Instead of being repulsed, or annoyed, or even somewhat judgmental, Annie took his face in her hands and told him he didn't have to beat himself up about it. She told him she knew he was upset about it, and that she would never think of him as anyone else but Finnick Odair from District 4.

"Besides, when I met Capitol Finnick at the sponsors' ball, I immediately knew I liked the other one better." She gave a small smile.

Finnick's frown and set jaw had unstiffened when he laughed at her terminology. "Capitol Finnick?" he asked. "God, that guys an asshole."

Annie grinned.

Another point in the night, when they were talking about their families, Annie admitted to the story she had told the Capitol. "It's true. All of it. Just not the part about my mom. She didn't die of heartbreak, she-" her face crumpled a bit, obviously hurting at the memory.

"Hey," Finnick took her hand in his and ran his thumb over the soft back of her hand gently. "You already told me, it's ok."

She nodded. "Anyway, the story is real. My dad really would always sing that song. I don't know how he knew it, where he'd ever heard it."

They didn't play music in the districts; the citizens had to get creative if they wanted to hear it.

"You still remember the whole song?" Finnick asked playfully.

"How am I not going to remember it? Was I not clear that he sang it nearly every night?" Annie laughed.

"You should sing it for me," he said softly. He slightly recalled the tune of it from the first time he had heard Annie sing, and he hadn't even been allowed to listen closely since he had to take care of his client.

Annie shook her head. "It's embarrassing, it's super lovey dovey and sweet."

"I like sweet." Finnick admitted.

Annie stared at him for a moment of contemplation. "I like sweet too."

"Then you should sing," He said quietly.

And so she did, although she never looked at him. She stared up at the ceiling, or closed her eyes. Either way, Finnick felt goosebumps spread over his skin. He felt his heart seeming to warm up with the sweet words of love, especially coming from Annie's lips.

When she finished, she opened her eyes but still didn't look at him.

"I like it," Finnick said quietly. "I think a lot of people forget about saying that kind of stuff to each other when they feel that way."

"Have you ever felt that way about anyone?" Annie asked, turning her head to look at him. It wasn't nosy or interrogating at all, but Finnick suddenly grew nervous.

"I think so," he said, her eyes were so green, her hair was so soft. "But she didn't feel that way. And I never sang her a song like that."

Finnick stared at Annie's lips as they formed a small smile. "I don't think you'd ever need to sing a song like that to win over a girl's affection, Finnick."

"Capitol Finnick wouldn't," he said, looking away from her lips quickly. If he kept this up, he'd be in deep trouble.

Annie laughed. "Capitol Finnick could spit in a girls face and they'd probably still love him."

"He is an asshole." Finnick admitted. "I've always hated that guy."

"I always tell people there's no such thing as hate." Annie said carefully. "There is only strong dislike."

"Fine. Then I strongly dislike him." He laughed. "I think he's really manipulative and has a stupid job."

"He probably has to deal with a lot of body glitter," Annie speculated.

"He does have to deal with a lot of body glitter, and it's disgusting."

She giggled and twirled the tips of her hair on her fingers absentmindedly. "I can't imagine."

They talked a little more about things that didn't matter at all, and at one point, Annie took out her books, just like Finnick had originally proposed. Except this time, she told Finnick he had to read them to her, because she was tired of all the work, and also she was really tired and could hardly see straight.

He was slightly annoyed, because he wouldn't get to listen to her voice and watch her face as she read, but at this point, any time spent with Annie was time worth spending.

He started up where they had stopped last in Lord of the Flies. They soon discovered that his reading comprehension was so far off, Annie had to help him along with words and phrases. Slowly as he kept reading, she inched closer and closer. He began tripping over words on purpose in order to have her closer, and at precisely 3:42, Annie fell asleep with her head on his chest. He soon followed suit once he slipped the small book in his pocket in case someone came in early.

He turned over and put his arm around Annie's waist, pulling her back into his chest. Her head was on the pillow. She stirred, and Finnick shut his eyes feigning sleep. Instead of pulling away from him like he thought she might've, she intertwined her hand with the one he had wrapped around her waist.

Finnick fell asleep to the steady beating of her heart and the heavenly smell of home.

He slept better that night than any night after his games.

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><p>Instead of a peacekeeper or a stylist or a mentor like she thought, Annie was woken up by the bright Capitol sunlight blaring through her window.<p>

She turned over. Finnick was gone. In his place was a scribbled note.

Annie picked it up, rubbing her eyes that had not yet been accustomed to the sunlight.

In messy curly scrawl read: 'Good morning, I had emergency work. I'll see you before though'. Signed with a cursive autograph.

Annie crumpled it in in her hand and tucked the wrinkled paper in her pant pocket. There was a sharp pain in her chest. She couldn't help it, but she was kind of upset that he had work. And on the day where she was going to face certain death no less, it just seemed kind of unfair.

There was a soft rap on her door, and Cintia entered. "Oh good," she pursed her lips tightly. "You're awake. The stylists are at the door waiting for you."

Annie turned and placed her feet on the cold tile of the floor, "Cintia," she started. The Capitol woman whipped around quickly, tripping over her heels in the process. "I wanted to apologize for what I said last night."

Cintia's expression softened. She waddled into the room and over to where Annie was. She took the girl's face in her hands and wiped the tears that were falling down Annie's cheeks, "Oh dear," she whispered softly. "I know you didn't."

Annie wiped her tears away and sniffled, repressing her feelings. "I wouldn't wish it on even my worst enemy." She said flatly. Cintia opened her mouth to say something- maybe even defend the games, but Annie walked past her and out the door. "You said the stylists were waiting."

And they certainly were. Bregje stood when he saw Annie and opened up his arms. "Are we ready for the big day?!" he said excitedly.

Lais was clapping cheerfully. Annie met eyes with Iva, who had a stoic and blank expression.

Maxxie got up from where he was sitting on the couch and walked over to the stylists. Annie met him there, and together as a group they left the suite.

Cintia called something out- a farewell- but it was the last thing on their mind.

Annie took Maxxie's hand in hers as they walked towards the elevator. "Hey," she was doing a good job of keeping her voice leveled so far. "Everything is going to be fine." It sounded like she said it with much conviction, which was good, but Maxxie didn't seem to buy it. He was silent.

"Alright," Bregje turned around to face them when they reached the destination room. It had changing rooms on either sides, the glass door behind it revealed the parked hovercrafts that would be taking all of the tributes off to the arena. Annie gulped. "Here are your arena garments." Bregje extended both arms to reveal the bundle of clothing and shoes to the both of them. He gave a tight lipped smile, "I didn't design them, but they'll do."

Annie thanked him quietly and took hers to the dressing room. Maxxie did the same.

There was a sports bra and pair of underwear made out of the same material as a swimsuit. To go over it, a cotton black tshirt with the Capitol crest on the shoulder. The pants were athletic, sweat absorbent, and form fitting; much like the ones used in the training room. A windbreaker-type jacket was also in the jumble of clothes, which Annie tied around her waist securely. She slipped on her wool socks and running shoes provided to her, and exited the dressing room.

Annie took the clothes she had been wearing and gave them back to Bregje, not before taking the note out of the pocket of her pants and slipping it into her sports bra. Iva brushed Annie's hair back and tied it into a tight, secure ponytail.

Maxxie exited his dressing room just as Iva finished Annie's hair. They were all quiet; save for Lais, Cintia, and Bregje, who were murmuring in the corner. Maxxie walked slowly over to where Annie was, and Annie bent down to tie his shoes for him. It wasn't that he didn't know how to, but he more often than not forgot that he had to.

The sound of the sliding doors opening and closing broke the small silence. Mags and Finnick appeared in the room. Annie stood up and immediately met eyes with Finnick. She swallowed, as his bright sea green eyes seemed to bore into hers.

"Oh good," Cintia sounded relieved. "We almost left without you two."

Annie's heart was beating rapidly as they all moved as a unit out to the runway. Inside the hovercraft, they only waited a moment as two more tributes boarded and they took off.

A Peacekeeper came by and injected the tracker into Annie's arm. She winced. It felt like the time Annie had been stung by a bee and had to take out the stinger; once it was over it didn't hurt too bad, but her arm was still throbbing.

It took Maxxie some coaxing, it wasn't until Annie stepped in and held his hand that they could properly inject the tracker. Afterwards, he massaged the area tenderly, still frowning.

"It wasn't that bad," Annie tried to say optimistically, he was still clutching his hand tightly. "See? You're still alive."

Maxxie didn't say anything. Finnick looked at Annie from where he was sitting. When she finally looked up and made eye contact, he gave her a small smile that she returned. There was an awkward silence throughout the entire hovercraft. Around 6 of the 24 tributes were all riding together. Everyone was silent and mournful. One tribute, Annie recognized her as the girl from 5, was whispering something to herself with her eyes closed. Annie had only read up on theology once or twice, but it was easy to see the girl was praying.

At that moment, Annie really wished there was some greater being that she believed in that she could ask for forgiveness. Whatever she had done in this life or the past or her next life, it must have been truly horrible to land her a spot in the games.

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><p>"It looks like it may be moderate climate," Finnick deduced from Annie's clothing. "So maybe temperatures in the 60s at lowest and 80s at highest? That would mean they've got something up their sleeves, like mutts or traps. I don't know. Just don't do anything stupid, if something is too easy, its most likely a trap."<p>

Annie twirled the tip of her ponytail. "Okay."

"One minute, thirty seconds to launch." A monotonous prerecorded voice sang over the intercom in its Capitol accent.

Finnick swallowed, his mouth felt horribly dry. Annie was staring at the pattern of the tiled floor. His heart was beating so quickly. This might be the last time he'd get to look at her, he reminded himself. So he may as well get a good look.

"I was just thinking," Annie said quietly. "One of my last memories of my parents is this picture of my mom standing on the tips of my dad's toes while they danced to their song." She wasn't crying, like most of the tributes did at this time. Her jaw was clenched and she had the fabric of her windbreaker crumpled between her fingers. "Now that I look back on it, I'm afraid I never gave anyone such a nice memory. I feel kind of bad. One of Cintia's last memories of me is going to be me yelling at her."

"Forty-Five seconds to launch."

Finnick grimaced. "Annie," he grabbed her by the shoulders so she would finally look at him, really look at him. She did, and Finnick felt the air get sucked out of his lungs. She was so beautiful. So extraordinarily beautiful. Every single thing about her. "I live a pretty fucked up life right now," that wasn't hard to admit. "And I have to say, you are one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

She smiled sadly. "You don't have to say that… Even if it's the end, you don't have to-"

"I'm not lying, he finished. I really do think you're amazing." It was true. It was the familiarity of her eyes, and the sound of her laugh. It was the way she looked at him. She didn't look at him like an object or a piece of meat or any of the other things Finnick was treated as. "You're one of my best friends."

Annie let out a small laugh; music to his ears. "You should probably go out more then, eh?"

"Fifteen seconds to launch."

Annie stared at him with her wide doe eyes. Finnick's heart nearly stopped. That was all the time they had left together. They walked over to the capsule, where Annie stood in the center.

Finnick frowned and held out his arms to her. She looked at him wide eyed for a moment, before lunging forward and wrapping her arms around him. Finnick clutched her waist; he tried to get her as close to him as he possibly could without crushing her. He pressed his face into her hair and tried to get one last whiff of her. "God, I'll miss you."

She unlatched herself. Finnick had to use every ounce of strength manifested inside of him to let go of her.

She walked over to the capsule again and was silent as the glass went up, separating them.

There was a small window of time where the capsule just sat there, the two of them staring at each other.

Finnick felt as if a knife was stabbing into his heart every time he blinked. He couldn't let her go, no- she couldn't die. She couldn't be taken away from him like that.

"Annie." He said a bit forcefully so she could hear him through the thick glass. "You have to know before you go in there, okay? I'm in love with you!" It was out of his mouth before he could properly think it over, but he knew it was true. Every word.

Her eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth to say something, but the capsule began ascending into the arena. "Finnick!" he heard her call through the glass.

"Annie!" He yelled back, stepping back to see her face one last time. Her bright green eyes frozen in fear and surprise. Her lips were moving, speaking, but she couldn't be heard. "Stay alive!" Finnick yelled. "I'll wait for you! I love-" But the capsule had disappeared into the ceiling.

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><p><strong>Is life cruel and unforgiving or what? The games have finally began.<strong>

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I should have one up either by friday night or saturday. Thanks so much for reading! Leave a review if you liked it!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey guess who's back? So I wasn't able to restore my computer :( Which means all my files were lost and I had to rewrite this entire story. I was so upset! I had written the games and afterwards too! So anyway, it's taken me a while update because I had to write this. I'm still not sure if I'm as happy with it as I was with the old one, but there are things I wanted to add so maybe it'll be alright in the end.**

**I've seen Mockingjay like three times so far, I think it's my favorite hg movie! Most people don't like it though, and I'll admit its a lot of set up for the second part. Nevertheless I'm so excited!**

**Hope everyone in America had a Happy Thanksgiving! Here's Chapter 14, enjoy!**

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><p>Annie stopped breathing.<p>

She couldn't see. The sun's blaring white light blurred her vision as her podium ascended into the arena.

For a moment, she focused only on what was around her. A familiar sound that made her chest get lighter: the sound of rushing water. All around her and behind her was water. The cornucopia was on a small island in the middle of what seemed to be a lake. All around the lake was forest-y treeline. Large pinetrees stuck up into the sky, thin and ragged at the tops like chewed-on pencils. Annie looked over her shoulder, and saw that the lake had a steep drop off. Not like a waterfall, since the water was enclosed by what looked like a thick concrete wall. It was a dam.

Which meant that further down, there was another water source, purer and cleaner than this one. Annie made it her first objective to get to that water source.

But when she turned around, she immediately remembered Maxxie. She needed to take care of Maxxie.

Her eyes scoured the pedestals rapidly for a familiar head of bright blonde hair. Which she located almost right away. His hair was shining in the sunlight like a coin on asphalt.

Next to him was another familiar face, Gemma, who was mouthing instructions to Jac, across the lake, only two people away from Annie.

Maxxie caught Annie's eye, and she motioned to Jac with her head. They had already made a plan to separate towards the beginning. Her and Gemma would get supplies, Jac and Maxxie would find higher ground and get out of the bloodbath.

Initially, Annie was going to make a run for it too, since she had no chance of getting a weapon worth using and then living through the cornucopia bloodbath, but now that there was water in the mix, she saw that her chances were actually a bit flipped.

She bit her lip, the clocked was counting down from ten now. She'd have to decide quickly.

_What would Finnick say?_ She asked herself. And was met with the memory of Finnick's brow creased in worry and anticipation. His lips forming the words, _I love you_. The conviction in his voice. Annie felt goose bumps forming on her skin, and she willed herself to forget it. She knew Finnick would get mad at her for going to the cornucopia, but she really did have a chance.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a tall, lean figure staring her down. The hair on the back of her neck stood up straight. The way Gleam's hungry and murderous gaze always made her feel.

"Five, four, three…"

Every number felt like the countdown to her execution. Three seconds before the noose around her neck got tighter. Three seconds before the chair was pulled out from under her. Three seconds before they pulled the rope and the blade of the guillotine came down on her neck.

"Two…"

Two kids and a seaside backyard. A strong husband with familiar gold curls and a heartwarming smile that held her and took her out on their sailboat. They would never be unhappy.

She couldn't think about hypotheticals. Not now.

"One."

And then it was quiet.

Annie dove into the water as if she was going for a leisurely swim. And when she surfaced, she swam towards the Cornucopia faster than she had ever swam before. Between the blood and water rushing in her ears, the sound of the first cannon, the shrillness of a girl's scream, adrenaline fueled Annie all the way towards the island. She was the first to pull herself up onto the artificial Capitol rock that supported the metallic Cornucopia, flush with objects of torture.

The white-blond head that could've belonged to no one but Maxxie caught Annie's eye. She saw him, Jac and the boy from 11 disappear into the treeline, to her relief.

Two more cannons went off, and two more bodies floated up to the surface of the water, bobbing up and down like pieces of driftwood. Annie felt her heart nearly stop. Those kids had families, probably parents who were watching right now, clutching each other and sobbing over the loss of their child. It was like a car crash happening in slow motion, Annie couldn't tear her eyes away.

Before the next tribute could make their way to the Cornucopia, Annie grabbed two of the nearest knives off of a rack and stuffed them into a bulky backpack she picked up off the ground.

She ran towards the tail of the Cornucopia, near where Gemma's pedestal was, and dove into the water. There was no sign of any other tributes, they had all swam to the front of the Cornucopia, or escaped into the treeline.

Annie heard a couple of shouts, one that sounded a lot like one of the Career boys, but she tried to pretend it wasn't directed towards her. They must've been after her, she did have a nine in training after all.

But the backpack was weighing her down significantly, Annie doggy paddled as fast as she could, not looking back with the fear that there'd be a burly kid just behind her ready to carve up her face like a kid's face paint.

She felt her feet dragging on the floor and kicking up the mud and clay and roots of freshwater plants, it was a gross feeling, and immediately, Annie realized the lake was a trap for those cocky tributes who chose to claim the Cornucopia.

The water was still, it didn't move. It was dirty, and probably home to all sorts of bacteria and larvae and weeds and Capitol diseases that had only one objective: infect and kill.

Maybe Annie would just have to wait it out, and the water would do some of the killing.

Two more cannons went off.

Or maybe there wouldn't even be any waiting. So far that was five dead, and Annie wasn't completely ready to be one of them. She had to get to Maxxie first.

She dragged her feet through the mud until she was closer to the muddy beach, and then she began to run faster.

The thick fabric of her pants was dragging her down, full of water and irritating her skin. It wasn't until she ran into the thicker trees and felt that she was truly safe, that she stopped to rest.

She took off her sneakers, caked with mud and weeds and threw them aside with disgust. She peeled her socks off, which, to her demise, revealed at least five leeches nibbling at the tops of her feet and ankles. Annie ripped them off, they hadn't done enough damage that she felt dizzy with blood loss, but leeches still grossed her out immensely.

Three cannons went off in intervals of ten seconds, and Annie suddenly felt quite uneasy. She needed to keep moving.

She put her shoes and socks back on, despite the squishy wet feeling they left, and continued running.

She had put quite some distance between herself and the Cornucopia, she had been running parallel to it, in order to get downhill of it and get to the water supply. She figured most groups, if any, would stay close to the lake and at the top of the hill, and that would kill most of them off.

The terrain went from a rocky and steep ground, full of boulders and sharp objects that got cloth torn on them and formed bruises on her legs as she tripped on them and ran past them, to soft, earthy dirt. The ground was soft with pine needles and fallen leaves, and it would've been beautiful under any other circumstances.

As soon as she was downhill and far enough from the hill, she started towards the break of trees. The trees got thinner and thinner, until finally she broke out into a clearing. Just as she had expected, it was a dam.

The dam was built with flimsy concrete, it seemed as though it was just strong enough to keep the water in. It towered over the entire arena, and if it weren't for the sun coming from the east, it would've cast an enormous shadow that engulfed this entire half of the arena. It was taller than the Justice Building in 4. It was taller than most buildings Annie had seen.

At the base of the dam, like Annie had also predicted, was a small outlet of a river. The river took up most of the space in the clearing. As she got closer she was relieved to see clear, freshwater. The dam used the power it harnessed to filter the water, which meant this was probably the only freshwater source in the arena. Besides the lake, which was infested with all kinds of parasites and disease. So in short, both sources were traps for the tributes.

Annie approached the river, and waded into it. It went up to her shoulders at the deepest part, and she could see her feet touching the bottom. Small freshwater fish nibbled at her shoes. She washed the grime and sweat off of herself, taking off her jacket and shirt to reveal her swim top. She wrung out her tshirt and jacket, and put the jacket back into the backpack. The water was cool and smooth as it went down her throat.

When another cannon sounded, she took it as her cue to keep moving. She slipped the tshirt back on. It was slick and cold from drying out in the breezy air.

She ran back into the trees and kept a steady pace.

It felt as if she had been running in circles for hours, the scenery all looked so similar. Annie had never been in a forest before, she had seen pictures of other districts, and pictures in books and read stories that took place in forests, but she'd never seen one for herself. There was a bad feeling at the pit of her stomach that, if she ever got out of here alive, she wouldn't find herself wanting to go back into any forests any time soon.

Another cannon went off, and Annie felt her throat closing up. Where Gemma and Jac and Maxxie safe? Who was dying? All those familiar faces from the training center, those who had shown her kindness, like the kids from 12 who lent her their mockingjay pin, or the Dani and Photus, who seemed so meek and undeserving of harm, or the two kids from 11, who couldn't have been older than Maxxie, and seemed more like little cherubs than killers, were they dead?

Before Annie could think twice, there were hot and sticky tears streaming down her face, blurring her vision.

If there was anyone watching from the Capitol right now, they'd probably laugh at how pathetic she was. She imagined the giant screen in the middle of the Capitol square with every tributes odds changing. Her odds were at one in a million.

Annie felt her body hit a wall, and as if it were electrified, she was seemingly electrocuted and thrown thirty feet back.

She fell back first onto a rock, her neck lolled back and the crown of her head hit the rock at full force. Her body then fell forward onto the ground, her hands pushed out in front of her, as if catching her fall would save her.

Annie felt paralyzed, her body numb with pain. There was no sound but the wind, and her vision was spotted and dark. The forest that used to be illuminated by the sunlight, with patches of light on the ground filtering in through the branches of the high trees, was now grey and dark.

After what felt like hours, small noises like the wind stirring the leaves rang softly in her ears. Then a cannon.

Annie wondered if it was the cannon signalling her own death. She hoped it was.

But then she felt her chest starting to move again, and the pain truly hit her.

She let out a gasp of pain, and immediately raised her hand to stop her scream in her chest. The pain was excruciating, from her legs to her back to her arms to her feet, it felt as if her entire body was being thrown against ragged rocks by a stormy tide.

She writhed, and finally after some of the pain subsided, she tried to pick herself back up. Her hands and knees were shaking, out of both pain and fear that someone had caught up to her at this point. They could have struck her down at any moment, and she wouldn't have seen them coming.

Just then, something caught her eye. The space in front of her, what she had thought were just continuing tree and forest, _moved_.

And not how trees moved. It was as if the _air_ moved. Like the entire path in front of her was just a picture. The air was rippling, subtly, but it was noticeable.

And then it struck her. Annie had hit the force field.

She vaguely remembered in the 50th games, Haymitch Abernathy had won because of the force field.

Tentatively, she reached out to touch the space in front of her. Her hand laid flat on the air. It felt just like a wall against her fingers, invisible ripples spilled out of her fingertips. When she pressed harder, nothing happened. No electricity popped out and hit her down again, nothing. It was like the thing was just as innocent as any other obstacle in the arena seemed.

Annie turned around to pick up her backpack, which was smoking from some sort of electrical charring it received, when the earth began to shake.

As if an earthquake was the first thing Annie needed, and by the feel of it, it was a big one too. Annie tripped when she tried to get her footing to make a dash out of the treeline, she'd never been in an earthquake before but she knew well that trees obeyed the laws of gravity just like anyone else.

She ran in the direction she came from, and then quickly realized that towards the Cornucopia was by no means the _correct_ way to be headed. So she switched and ran east, towards the river.

The heavy creaking of trees being uprooted took precedence over the sounds of the earth rumbling and the branches and leaves falling. Suddenly what seemed to be only ten meters away, a large pine tree came crashing down on all the trees nearby it. Annie shuddered at the thought that that could be her at any second.

She arrived at the treeline when the rumbling stopped. A sound most closely recognizable as a cannon followed suit.

What were the gamemakers doing by causing an earthquake? Annie tried to think if it was anything she had done… She was playing around with the force field a bit, but was an earthquake really warranted? Sure, the gamemakers had reacted rather harshly towards tributes who tried to use the force field to their advantage in the past, but it had never been an _earthquake_.

Annie regained composure, she tried to stop her knees and hands from shaking, but they just wouldn't stop. Across the river and in the other part of the forest, a hovercraft zoomed over noisily and extracted a body from the tall trees.

A deep feeling caught in Annie's chest at the sight of the body. She'd been hearing all those cannons, but it felt much different to put a lifeless body to the sound. It put everything into perspective.

She stayed hidden in the treeline, watching the sun set downstream of the river. Well into dusk, a group of four tributes appeared from the other side of the treeline to seemingly 'claim' the river. They set up their camp, building a fire and chatting noisily with each other as they roasted whatever they had caught in the forest.

They must have been pretty confident about being able to beat whoever came onto them, because they weren't being conspicuous at all. Annie guessed they felt quite safe from their number.

The smell of their dinner wafted over to Annie and her stomach grumbled, she had drank water recently, but not eaten. It was too dark to scavenge for anything, so she guessed she'd have to just sleep off the hunger and search in the morning.

She scoured the area for a tree easy enough to climb, and after a long trial and error process of teaching herself how to climb a tree, she got some good leverage above the ground. From the high branches, she could see the group by the river a little better. The girls from 5 and 6 and the boys from 6 and 12. They had weapons with them, which meant they had survived the messy bloodbath. Maybe Annie had written them off too early.

She straddled the branch she was on and slung the backpack onto her lap. It was very hard to keep balance and maneuver herself, with the constant fear of falling plagued her greatly. She wondered if she was scared of heights.

The backpack had her jacket, which was now dry. She slipped it on over her thin cotton tshirt since the night was getting cooler as the minutes passed. There was also the knife from the Cornucopia, and some trail mix, an empty water bottle, matches, iodine, vitamin supplements, a sleeping bag, rope, and a wool blanket. Annie wondered what havoc the gamemakers would wreak on the tributes with these kinds of items in the backpack.

She wrapped herself up in the blanket and hung her backpack on a branch that way it wouldn't fall. She then tied herself onto the tree with a simple knot. At first, she wondered if a half-hitch would be best to tie herself down with- the type of knot one ties to keep a sail tied to the boom- but then she imagined herself waking up staring at the ground, still tied to the tree and shuddered.

The country's anthem started to play, a sound that Annie had heard way too many times in the last couple of days and was beginning to annoy her to no end.

She rested her head against the trunk of the tree and watched as the Capitol listed off the casualties as easily as one would a grocery list. The girl from 1, the boy from 5, the pair from 8, the pair from 9, the pair from 10, the girl from 11 and the girl from 12.

Annie's heart sunk. The girl from 11 hadn't made it. It was hard to imagine such a sweet looking little girl, with her dimples and unruly curls and bright smile, murdered in cold blood. Annie watched the sky to see if they would do _anything _else. Maybe say their names? There were 10 dead. That was nearly half the tributes in one night and the Capitol couldn't honor their deaths further than flashing their face for half a second.

But Maxxie was alive. And so were Jac and Gemma and Kemp. That was good. And Photos and Dani were alive too. Who know's what they were up to, or how they had missed death so narrowly in the bloodbath.

Annie fiddled with the ends of her rope until she fell asleep. She dreamt of falling.

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><p><strong>I'm writing the next chapter as we speak! Please review, follow, and favorite :)<strong>


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